It's hard for people to imagine how demoralising it is for medical students to memorise human anatomy diagrams. A textbook thousands of pages thick, densely packed with two-dimensional diagrams of blood vessels and nerves, looks like a tangled mess. They can memorise the terminology with their eyes closed, but can't figure out where to start with a scalpel when their eyes are open. To put it bluntly, what separates theoretical knowledge from practical application is a sense of “three-dimensionality”.
这中间的桥梁，就是科学教具。现代医学教学早就不是只靠挂图和黑板了。一个 1:1 还原的心脏解剖模型，左心房右心室不仅颜色分明，还能拆解成十几块。学生拿在手里翻转看，冠状动脉是怎么绕着心肌走的，一眼就明明白白。这比盯着一页平面图死磕两小时强多了。原本要熬几个通宵才能死记硬背的空间结构，现在摸着模型半小时就搞懂了。
The most powerful aspect of teaching aids is that they confront you directly with the details where mistakes are easily made. For example, when practising puncture, who would dare to train on a real person without a simulated silicone model to practice on first? These realistic tactile teaching aids replicate the needle insertion resistance and the feeling of breaking through a membrane with almost identical verisimilitude to a real person. It's fine for novices to make a hundred mistakes on a model, but a single mistake in clinical practice could lead to a medical accident. This not only saves the cost of trial and error but truly saves lives.
Let's do the maths. Those old-fashioned models used to fade and crack with age, and some had a strong, acrid smell from inferior plastic that was quite unpleasant. The better teaching aids now are made from special eco-friendly resins or high-grade silicone. Not only are they odourless, but even if dozens of students handle them daily or they're repeatedly wiped down with alcohol, they won't fade or deform. It's a one-off investment that will last for several cohorts of students to use and abuse, making them far more cost-effective in the long run.
Next time you go to the hospital and see those young doctors working so deftly, don't just think they've got nimble fingers. The teaching models they've practiced on behind the scenes have probably seen more action than the shopping centres you've visited.
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When I was memorising anatomy back then, I really wanted to die. Looking at those diagrams just gave me a headache. If I'd had this kind of model then, I probably wouldn't have lost so much hair.
Are these simulation models generally available in schools now?
Indeed, the sense of depth is crucial.
Let's gather around and have a look. Medical students have it really tough.
I remember that old model from school, it had a terrible plastic smell. Spending half a day in the lab felt like being fumigated.
In reality, silicone's resistance still can't fully simulate the skin layers of a real person, but for complete beginners practicing, it at least provides a general feel.
Is VR as an electronic teaching aid used much now?
Heh, a well-trained model doesn't mean steady hands in surgery; experience is still key.
That makes sense.
Seeing this suddenly makes me feel sorry for medical students for three seconds 😂
When I was interning, I jumped in without practising enough on the models. I was so nervous my hands were shaking. Thinking about it now, I really need to practice more on simulation tools, otherwise I'm too scared to touch a patient.