‘Our student’s first patient’: Why some experts say working with cadavers is essential – CBC
Dalhousie closes cadaver lab for the school year after failing air quality tests
Oct 16, 2025
Some American anatomy professors are encouraging Dalhousie students to find different ways to get hands-on experience in the field after the Halifax university announced it would not be using cadavers this year.
The school has temporarily stopped working with donated bodies after the laboratory in the Tupper Building on the Halifax campus failed air quality tests over the summer. Formaldehyde levels were higher than what is allowed in Nova Scotia.
Dalhousie has told students it is leaning on videos, using skeletal material and anatomical models to teach anatomy this year.
For Jessica Byram, working on her first donor was so profound, she decided to pursue a career in anatomy.
