Saudi Gazette report

HAIL — Medical colleges in Saudi universities need about 100 cadavers each year for anatomy lessons as medical education is making big strides in Saudi Arabia, according to Al-Watan newspaper.



The paper said the company that provides the corpses to Saudi universities has reported an annual rise in demand, especially after more medical colleges have opened and the number of students taking up medicine has increased.



The increased demand not only comes from government universities but also from private medical colleges, said Ahmad Atif, a senior director at Rumooze Scientific Company, which is responsible for supplying the corpses to medical colleges in the Kingdom. Atif said a major portion of the bodies are supplied to King Saud University in Riyadh. The company imports corpses from different countries and then sells them to the medical colleges.



He added that there is also demand for human body parts that are used for training students at medical laboratories.  He said most corpses are imported from the United States through official channels and according to strict procedures.



Atif pointed out that the price of a corpse ranges from SR250,000 to SR400,000, depending on age.



He said the corpses are preserved in formalin and are delivered within 48 hours in special coffins to medical colleges. The level of demand for each institution varies depending on the number of students working on a single corpse.



He added that some universities also rely on human dummies to train medical students. These dummies have human-like organs and systems and some of them alert students with beeps when a shot is given in the wrong spot.