By Laura Klotzkin, Staff Writer
After about 30 years, an unchanging cadaver lab used for the PT and PA department was finally renovated. The Graduate Gross Cadaver Lab is a large selling point for Daemen’s prestigious health services programs. After a long push, Daemen now has an incredibly advanced cadaver lab to enhance the learning for students in health sciences.
Dr. Gary Styn, MD, director of anatomical and medical studies took over the lab in 2005. He is currently the only faculty member who teaches in the lab. He was a part of the large push for the lab to come together in the first place.
“I initially got a proposal together in 2011 and have been pretty much asking and pushing for updates since that time and it finally happened,” Styn said.
The old lab was less than ideal. It came with a plethora of problems as the main changes that it had in the past 30 years were that the floors were painted. The sinks were old and dirty, making it difficult to keep the labs sanitary. The tables were unsafe, often leading to a lot of shin injuries when opening. The technology consisted of a single smart TV. The lighting consisted mainly of floor lamps. All of these issues were fixed after the renovation of the gross lab.
“The new lab has made studying in the cadaver lab significantly more convenient but more orderly and spacious,” Tyler Green, class of 2026 PT major and TA in the cadaver lab said. “It is certainly an improvement on the older lab.”
The sinks are bigger and cleaner, allowing three people to comfortably wash their hands simultaneously. The tables are nicer and safer, opening using hydraulic hinges. They also keep the bodies from drying out as fast as they used to. The technology now consists of seven large screens around the room. They can be connected to any device, and work synced or unsynced, depending on the needs of the students. They can also have a camera synced to them, to project things to a class full of people. The lighting in the lab is now surgical grade as well. There are separate lights for every table, as well as bright lights for the whole room.
“The overhead lights are a game changer,” Keegan Reardon, class of 2026 PT major and TA in the gross lab said. “They make dissecting and presenting different things in open labs so much better than what we had in the old labs.”
With the construction of the lab also came the construction of a connected study room with keycard access. It was built using a storage room and three offices. It now contains a large TV, comfortable seating, whiteboards, and anatomical models that were previously kept within the cadaver lab.
The lab underwent construction in the spring semester of 2024 and throughout the summer, finally coming together and opening the week before classes began. Even at the beginning of the semester, however, there were still various amenities being added. The room was fully complete on Nov. 4.
The lab is now used by an estimated 150 students.
“Being a TA and seeing how the new lab has benefitted the PT class of 2027 has been awesome,” Reardon said. “They’re all benefitting from the various upgrades that were needed.”