Visible Body Provides Educational Support to Medical School Students in War-Torn Syria

Newton MA — March 10, 2017 — Visible Body, in collaboration with a group of Yale Medical School faculty and students, has supplied the human anatomy reference and learning app, Human Anatomy Atlas, to nearly 200 students of the Free Aleppo University.

As a result of the war in Syria, hundreds of health care workers have been killed, and hospitals are often a target for bombs. Additional medical professionals are in great demand. The Free Aleppo University (FAU) Medical School opened last year to train the next generation of physicians. Faculty and students from the Yale School of Medicine are among those supporting Syrian medical students with training and materials.

The challenges of providing a medical education in a war zone are daunting. It is dangerous for students to gather in a classroom to learn, as classrooms can become targets. Virtual classrooms can be unreliable due to spotty internet availability. Students in Aleppo do not have access to labs where they could study cadavers, and textbooks are scarce. The study of anatomy, a cornerstone of medical education, is vitally important for training much needed trauma surgeons and emergency physicians.

Visible Body’s app Human Anatomy Atlas allows students to study on their own and without an internet connection, using their laptop, tablet or phone. The app allows students to learn the intricacies of human anatomy visually and interactively, and provides a mobile reference for use anywhere and any time they may need it.

“We first heard about the Syrian Program from faculty members and students who rely on Visible Body apps for their studies at Yale Medical School,” said Andrew Bowditch, CEO of Visible Body. “We are honored to make this donation and play a small role in educating the courageous and committed medical students in Syria.”

“Many of our students use the Human Anatomy Atlas app to support their learning of human anatomy. A number of our students are deeply committed to supporting the efforts of FAU and felt this would be an important tool to learn anatomy in the absence of cadaver dissection. We are grateful to Visible Body for working with our students and faculty to support this program”, said Dr. Michael Schwartz, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Yale Medical School.

About Visible Body

Visible Body’s 3D anatomical models and animations of the human body make learning and teaching anatomy and physiology visual and engaging. We create apps that advance the way students learn and healthcare professionals practice. Over a million people have used our products over the web, on iPads, iPhones, Android devices, zSpace, PCs, and Macs.