The technological invention of disease and the decline of autopsies

Academic autopsies in Brazil - a national survey

“…[10][11][12] Few published reports have confirmed this trend in Brazilian services. [6][7][8] To the best of our knowledge, this is the first nationwide investigation on academic autopsy number, rates and medical educational potential in Brazil.…”

“…Financial, philosophical and administrative issues have also contributed to a diffuse perception of autopsies as obsolete and useless. 6 In Brazil, autopsies are performed in three different and independent institutions. Forensic (or coroner) au-topsies are assigned to medico-legal institutes (coroner's service), which are under the administration of the departments of public safety of each federal state.…”

Avaliação das resistências de docentes a propostas de renovações em currículos de graduação em medicina

“…O ensino no ambiente clínico é uma tarefa exigente e complexa, e não seria surpresa detectar que muitos clínicos assumem essas funções sem orientação sobre estratégias e métodos que podem ser aproveitados. A tecnologia poderia sublimar tais deficiências ao ser apresentada como detentora do moderno e da certeza diagnóstica 7 . A grande maioria dos professores clínicos recebeu treinamento intenso na aplicação do conhecimento médico em suas diversas competências.…”

The Penetrating Gaze and the Decline of the Autopsy

“…That is, technology mediates between the perceiver and the perceived, allowing clinicians to observe representations of morbid anatomy during life. Pompilio and Viera argue that this new paradigm obviates the need for autopsies to correlate symptoms with pathological anatomy; instead, one need only check lab results and images, since these are what define disease [8]. Furthermore, this thinking is already reflected in the idea that "living anatomy" and medical imaging can replace the use of cadavers in anatomy teaching [9,10].…”