Students in Brooke Skeenes’ Medical Terminology and Human Anatomy class at Portsmouth High School are getting up close with the human body thanks to new technology called an Anatomage Table.
The Anatomage Table is a large touchscreen table that offers a fully segmented real human 3D anatomy system where users can dissect and visualize anatomy exactly as they would on a fresh cadaver. The 3D models are composed of scans from actual cadavers and have a more photo-realistic look to them. There are four virtual cadavers to dissect – two male and two female – and this allows students to isolate any body system, such as skeletal, muscular, or vascular systems.
After students finish studying a chapter about one of the body systems, they get to explore that system on the Anatomage Table, and they have to find and identify parts of the anatomy.
“This is giving the students something that I wish I had gotten in nursing school. It would have helped me tremendously to learn the different body parts. It’s hard to hear something and then bring it back to the body, but this helps bring everything together,” she said.
Portsmouth High School is the only school in our area with an Anatomage Table for students, and it has already attracted the attention of university nursing programs.
Skeenes is a registered nurse and she has been teaching for 18 years, but this is her first year at Portsmouth High School. She is part of a new satellite program offered by the Scioto County Career Technical Center to introduce high school students to the programs offered by the career center.
“They can get certifications like OSHA 10, CPR certification, Stop the Bleed certification, and first aid and our hope is that we can get some kids interested and they can go to SciotoTech to finish their nurse’s aide certificate or their phlebotomy certificate,” Skeenes said.
For more information about Portsmouth City Schools, visit them online at www.portsmouthtrojans.net, or follow the school’s page on Facebook.