Editing Dissection (section)

===India===
[[File:The Ayurvedic Man., c.18th century Wellcome L0017592.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The Ayurvedic Man., c. 18th century]]

The ancient societies that were rooted in India left behind artwork on how to kill animals during a hunt.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Jacob |first=Tony |date=2013 |title=History of teaching anatomy in India: from ancient to modern times |journal=Anatomical Sciences Education |volume=6 |doi=10.1002/ase.1359 |pmid=23495119 |issue=5 |pages=351–8|s2cid=25807230 }}</ref> The images showing how to kill most effectively depending on the game being hunted relay an intimate knowledge of both external and internal anatomy as well as the relative importance of organs.<ref name=":5" /> The knowledge was mostly gained through hunters preparing the recently captured prey. Once the roaming lifestyle was no longer necessary it was replaced in part by the civilization that formed in the Indus Valley. Unfortunately, there is little that remains from this time to indicate whether or not dissection occurred, the civilization was lost to the [[Indo-Aryan migration|Aryan people migrating]].<ref name=":5" />

Early in the history of India (2nd to 3rd century), the [[Arthashastra]] described the 4 ways that death can occur and their symptoms: drowning, hanging, strangling, or asphyxiation.<ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last1=Mathiharan |first1=Karunakaran |title=Origin and Development of Forensic Medicine in India |journal=The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology |date=September 2005 |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=254–260 |doi=10.1097/01.paf.0000163839.24718.b8|pmid=16121082 |s2cid=29095914 }}</ref> According to that source, an autopsy should be performed in any case of untimely demise.<ref name=":6" />

The practice of dissection flourished during the 7th and 8th century. It was under their rule that medical education was standardized. This created a need to better understand human anatomy, so as to have educated surgeons. Dissection was limited by the religious taboo on cutting the human body. This changed the approach taken to accomplish the goal. The process involved the loosening of the tissues in streams of water before the outer layers were sloughed off with soft implements to reach the musculature. To perfect the technique of slicing, the prospective students used gourds and squash. These techniques of dissection gave rise to an advanced understanding of the anatomy and the enabled them to complete procedures used today, such as rhinoplasty.<ref name=":5" />

During medieval times the anatomical teachings from India spread throughout the known world; however, the practice of dissection was stunted by Islam.<ref name=":5" /> The practice of dissection at a university level was not seen again until 1827, when it was performed by the student Pandit Madhusudan Gupta.<ref name=":5" /> Through the 1900s, the university teachers had to continually push against the social taboos of dissection, until around 1850 when the universities decided that it was more cost effective to train Indian doctors than bring them in from Britain.<ref name=":5" /> Indian medical schools were, however, training female doctors well before those in England.<ref name=":5" />

The current state of dissection in India is deteriorating. The number of hours spent in dissection labs during medical school has decreased substantially over the last twenty years.<ref name=":5" /> The future of anatomy education will probably be an elegant mix of traditional methods and integrative computer learning.<ref name=":5" /> The use of dissection in early stages of medical training has been shown more effective in the retention of the intended information than their simulated counterparts.<ref name=":5" /> However, there is use for the computer-generated experience as review in the later stages.<ref name=":5" /> The combination of these methods is intended to strengthen the students' understanding and confidence of anatomy, a subject that is infamously difficult to master.<ref name=":5" /> There is a growing need for anatomist—seeing as most anatomy labs are taught by graduates hoping to complete degrees in anatomy—to continue the long tradition of anatomy education.<ref name=":5" />