“I Know They Are Dead, but They Sure Do Make the Subject Come Alive!”

Allen School Student Body Explores Human Bodies at Seaport “Bodies Revealed” Exhibition “Astonished” is, perhaps, the ideal word to describe the reaction of Allen School Brooklyn Medical Assistant students as they entered the “Bodies Revealed” exhibition at the South Street Seaport, in lower Manhattan prompting one student to remark, “I know they are dead, but they sure do make the subject come alive!” Fourteen real full body human specimens and over 200 organs are respectfully displayed in the three-dimensional exhibition that permits visitors of all ages to explore deep inside of the human body in a way that textbooks cannot possibly portray. Approximately 200 Allen School Brooklyn Medical Assistant day and evening students participated in field trips to the exhibit, which is currently on display in Spain, Brazil and in eleven US cities. The evening classes visited on Friday, February 22nd and the daytime classes, on March 7th. Evening students were accompanied by instructors Frederick Rutherford, MD, Ian Surrey, MD and Tyrell Pichkhadze (“Mr. P”). Day classes were accompanied by Dean Robert Jannicelli, MD, Bob Shapiro, Chairman of the Media Center and Study Skills Department, and instructors Frederick Rutherford, MD, Ian Surrey, MD and Abdulla Saudi, MD. Each full body specimen in the exhibit is dissected to totally reveal the function of an entire anatomical system and to demonstrate how that particular system is integrated into the body as a whole. Some of the organs presented are diseased and some are healthy. The bodies are preserved using polymer impregnation, a relatively new method of preservation that has replaced in many cases the use of formaldehyde for storage of cadavers for medical study. The students agreed that the various interactive displays furthered their understanding of the body in a way that they would never have experienced had they not gone. Only in medical school would a student, prior to this exhibit, have the opportunity to get so up close and personal with a cadaver. They all concurred with the student who said of the bodies, “I know they are dead, but they sure make the subject come alive!”