Shortage of dead bodies hits medical training in Uganda

• Some Ugandan medical schools have up to 50 students sharing one cadaver during anatomy lessons.

• Experts say overcrowded practical sessions deny many students hands-on learning opportunities.

• Uganda relies mainly on unclaimed bodies from public hospitals, but supply continues to decline.

• Medical educators want a legal framework for voluntary body donation to address the shortage.

A growing shortage of cadavers is straining medical training in Uganda, forcing some universities to place up to 50 students around a single body during anatomy lessons and raising concerns about the quality of future doctors.

Medical educators and health experts warn that the country's expanding number of medical schools has outpaced the supply of cadavers, leaving many students with little or no opportunity to take part in practical anatomy training.

Cadaver dissection remains the global standard for teaching anatomy because it gives students direct experience with the structure of the human body. Experts say textbooks, computer models and simulations cannot fully replace the lessons gained from working with a real human body.

International guidelines recommend a ratio of 10 students per cadaver. However, investigations show that some Ugandan institutions require between 30 and 50 students to share a single body during practical sessions.

Dr Frank Asiimwe, a senior surgeon at Mulago National Referral Hospital, said even the international recommendation falls short of ideal learning conditions.

"The body-to-student ratio should be one to four. Anatomy is not about observing what others do. It is hands-on learning," he said.

A final-year medical student at a public university said she only participated in one practical session involving the back and limbs. During another session involving about 40 students, she watched from a distance while only a few classmates handled the dissection.

She said lecturers attributed the situation to a shortage of cadavers. In some cases, students worked on bodies that had already been dissected by previous classes.

The challenge extends beyond individual institutions. A dean at a medical school in northern Uganda said his university has 76 students but only three cadavers. He estimated that the school needs at least 15 bodies each year to provide adequate training.

Uganda's medical schools largely depend on unclaimed bodies from public hospitals. Under the Anatomy Rules of 1957, hospitals may transfer bodies that remain unclaimed for at least 14 days to training institutions.

Assoc Prof Erisa Mwaka, Dean of the School of Biomedical Sciences at Makerere University College of Health Sciences, said Uganda now has about 15 medical schools competing for a limited supply of cadavers.

He noted that the number of unclaimed bodies continues to fall even as student enrolment rises.

Makerere uses about 40 cadavers annually and also prepares and supplies bodies to several public and private universities. Mwaka said the university has received requests for more than 60 cadavers from different institutions but cannot meet the demand.

Dr Peace Bagasha, a clinical lecturer at Makerere University and a urologist at Mulago Hospital, said uneven exposure to anatomy training creates differences in competence among medical students.

"There are students who come from certain universities and they have not been adequately exposed," she said.

Prof Joel Okullo, chairperson of the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, said anatomy forms the foundation of medical practice and that practical dissection cannot be fully replaced by demonstrations or digital tools.

Experts are now pushing for a national body donation programme to supplement the dwindling supply of unclaimed bodies.

Uganda does not have a specific law governing voluntary body donation. Medical educators believe such legislation would create a sustainable source of cadavers while ensuring informed consent and public confidence.

Although technology continues to advance, experts insist that future doctors still need direct experience with the human body.

As Uganda trains the next generation of doctors, educators say the shortage of cadavers has become a critical issue that demands urgent attention.