Prosector
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A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a
The act of prosecting differs from that of dissecting. A prosection is a professionally prepared dissection prepared by a prosector – a person who is well versed in anatomy and who therefore prepares a specimen so that others may study and learn anatomy from it. A dissection is prepared by a student who is dissecting the specimen for the purpose of learning more about the anatomical structures pertaining to that specimen. The term dissection may also be used to describe the act of cutting. Therefore, a prosector dissects to prepare a prosection.
Prosecting is intricate work where numerous tools are used to produce a desired specimen. Scalpels and scissors allow for sharp dissection where tissue is cut, e.g. the
Occupational risks
Generally, the risks to prosectors are low. Cadavers used for teaching purposes are
Further to the protection that embalming provides against disease, educational institutions take great care in screening the cadavers accepted into their body donation programs. Cadavers are not accepted if they have a medical history of infectious disease such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Prosectors for autopsies of diseased cadavers may run a high risk of suffering from health problems when caution is not used, because cadavers are not fixed when being dissected for autopsy. At least two diseases are named after prosectors:
- .
- Prosector's wart, a skin lesion, also caused by contamination with tuberculous material
Contracting
Presently,
The continuous respiratory exposure to formaldehyde, used to preserve
Famous prosectors
- Jean Zuléma Amussat
- Paul Clemens von Baumgarten
- Frank Evers Beddard
- Christian Albert Theodor Billroth
- William Bowman
- Paul Broca
- Korbinian Brodmann
- Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke
- Alexis Carrel
- Niels Ryberg Finsen
- Alessandra Giliani
- Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle
- Josef Hyrtl
- Eduard Kaufmann
- Albert von Kölliker
- Eber Landau
- Karl Langer
- Paul Langerhans
- Giovanni Battista Morgagni
- Jan Evangelista Purkyně
- Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher
- Joseph Toynbee
- Rudolf Virchow