A MEDICAL school has become the first in the UK to live-stream a human dissection as part of a new virtual teaching technique.

Year two and medical neuroscience students at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) witnessed a brain being removed.

They also had an introduction session where they explored the muscles and bones of the chest.

Social distancing restrictions as a result of the pandemic have forced universities online, blending curriculum with a mix of face-to-face and virtual teaching.

Staff at BSMS have implemented a blended medical curriculum to ensure students still receive face-to-face teaching in key clinical area and also benefit from digital innovations to support their learning.

One of these innovations has been to bring the dissecting room, a highly regulated space, to students via streaming.

The procedure had been carefully planned, considering the Human Tissue Authority regulations, and only involved donors who had consented to the activity.

Professor Claire Smith, head of anatomy, said: “In responding to the current restrictions, it remains imperative that medical and surgical teaching continues.

“In anatomy teaching, Covid-related restrictions have been compounded by the medical school only receiving half the number of donated cadavers for teaching. We are so fortunate to have donors and my thoughts are always with those who have suffered loss at such a difficult time.

“This new innovation has meant the donors’ wish to educate and inform future generations can still occur, albeit in a slightly different way.”

It is not only medical students who are benefiting.

Last month, a week-long course was arranged by Dr Jag Dhanda, using the live stream to demonstrate surgical procedures on cadavers with virtual reality (VR).

Multiple camera angle perspectives in the virtual reality view were live-streamed to 350 surgeons from 26 countries around the world.

Surgeons were able to view the surgical techniques on cadavers through virtual reality headsets that allowed them to choose the camera angle perspective they wanted by moving their heads.

One student who attended the brain dissection said they gained a lot from the experience.

He said: “It’s definitely a learning curve with all the new tech tools, but I really felt that I gained incredibly valuable experience by being present during the session.

“I know that I speak on behalf of all the medical neuroscience students when I say that we are very grateful for the opportunity to be included in something like this.”