Experiences that “reach the heart”. Taking part in a whole body dissection course at the University of Malta

This article summarizes the activities of the four-week whole body dissection course the main authors participated in in August 2016 at the dissection hall of the University of Malta (UoM). Our team comprised 10 second-year medicine students from University of Palermo chosen among who had passed the Human Anatomy exam brilliantly. The need to move to the UoM to take part in such activity derives from the lack of practice approach in Italian schools of medicine, focused mostly on the theoretical studies, neglecting practical experience. The heart dissection reveal itself as a huge opportunity to finally apply our anatomical knowledge, improving it and enabling us to compare images took from books to the actual organ. We had the chance to handle a real heart, to appreciate its weight and consistence. We took part in coronary artery courses focusing on their functions within the heart machinery.