NTU to have compulsory cadaver dissection classes for medical students from 2026

Third- and fourth-year students at Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) medical school will get to dissect human cadavers from 2026.

- Elisha Tushara

Previously not offered to students at NTU's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, cadaver dissection will now be a compulsory module for students in their clinical years during the five-year programme.

Associate Professor Sreenivasulu Reddy Mogali, the medical school's head of anatomy, said the school will be importing fresh frozen cadavers from the United States, and will need about nine or 10 cadavers each year.

Although there is increased awareness in Singapore about donating bodies to science, there are not enough cadavers to go around all the medical schools here, he said.

First-year students at Duke-NUS Medical School take a core course with cadaver dissection classes, while the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine offers cadaver dissection as an elective.

Prof Reddy said working with human cadavers provides students with a more accurate understanding of how the human anatomy works, building on their foundational learning in the first two years.