From Da Vinci to Downstate: Brooklyn Medical Students Learn Anatomy Through Sculpting
Nov 27, 2009
Brooklyn, NY - For centuries, medical students have learned about human anatomy, physiology, and illness using artist renditions of the human body and its components. Examples range from the famed anatomical drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci to the wax “moulages” – sculptures of disease states – of the 19th-century British sculptor Joseph Towne.
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is breathing new life into this age-old practice by offering medical students an elective course in creating fully lifelike, anatomically correct human organs. The course, “Understanding Anatomy Through the Art of Sculpting,” is being taught by artist and fourth-year medical student Zachary Svigals and Samuel Márquez, PhD, assistant professor of cell biology.
“Artistic and creative intuition has helped advance medical theories throughout history, as evident in the extraordinary theoretical leaps of Leonardo Da Vinci,” says Dr. Márquez. "This course seeks to open again this rich avenue of observation, exploration, and creativity.”
“Art and medicine have never been mutually exclusive pursuits,” adds Mr. Svigals. “Artists, sculptors, physicians, and surgeons all study the shape and proportions of the human form.”
“We know from experience at other institutions that fine art courses have enhanced the visual diagnostic and observational skills of medical students and that clay modeling is an effective means of studying human muscles,” says Dr. Márquez. He also notes that a drawing and sculpture course taught to plastic surgeons improved their judgment of proportion and understanding of patients’ deformities. “We expect that this course will train the eye to see in greater detail. In the process, medical students will gain dexterity, an intuitive appreciation of form, and a greater understanding of what is normal and abnormal in anatomy.”
Dr. Márquez is also co-director of gross anatomy in the College of Medicine, director of anatomy in the School of Health Professions, and director of the Anatomical Donor Program at SUNY Downstate.
Mr. Svigals graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and a Bachelor of Arts degree in sculpture. He studied art in Florence, Italy, where Da Vinci lived and worked, and where Mr. Svigals created the city’s first international student art exhibition. Before entering Downstate’s College of Medicine, Mr. Svigals was a tutor for primarily under-advantaged students in Match Corps, a program at Boston’s Media and Technology Charter High School.
How the Course Originated
The idea to have medical students sculpting in clay was a collaboration between Mr. Svigals and Dr. Márquez, in which the two came from different perspectives to create this course.
Mr. Svigals, 27, always wanted to combine his two passions, biology and art, and was interviewed by Dr. Márquez when he applied to Downstate. Dr. Márquez knew of Mr. Svigals’ sculpture background and his desire to incorporate art into his medical education, and asked Mr. Svigals during his second year as a medical student to sculpt anatomically correct structures and anomalies. Dr. Márquez wanted medical students to analyze Mr. Svigals' sculptures to decipher what was normal versus abnormal.
After Mr. Svigals completed his sculpture of the heart, he realized that the actual process of sculpting provided the greatest benefit. “Through molding the clay into anatomically correct structures and by analyzing the piece from every angle,” said Mr. Svigals, “spatial relationships were registered, understood, and committed to memory.” Mr. Svigals then proposed the idea of a sculpture anatomy course to Dr. Márquez, who enlisted support from his department and the campus administration.
Since 2004, Dr. Márquez has mentored 53 students pursuing special anatomy projects.
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.