A Campus Culture of Cooperation W
hen Gary Mattingly, Ph.D., of The University of Scranton’s Physical Therapy Department was approached about an article highlighting his collaboration in the use of his cadaver lab with members of the Nursing Department and the Exercise Science Department, he didn’t think there was a story to tell. Dr. Mattingly’s assumption that sharing the lab with other departments is a “no-brainer” is indicative of his generosity with his time, talents and resources, and what he assumes is the natural process of working with others in a university setting. Dr. Mattingly’s attitude and work ethic reflect a campus culture of pedagogical cooperation between professionals. This cooperative endeavor not only benefits professors but also students and makes The University of Scranton is unique in its collaboration between its departments and its different schools. Like most acts of generosity, Dr. Mattingly’s openness ripples outward to others, who in return, give of their time and knowledge.
Nursing and the Cadaver Lab
Dr. Mattingly has been at the University since 1983. He attended St. Ambrose College, The University of Scranton and St. Louis University, where he completed his Ph.D. in anatomy. Dr. Mattingly was chosen as Teacher of the Year at The University of Scranton in 1999 and received the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Teacher Award in 2000. He teaches gross anatomy for the Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) program in the cadaver lab in the basement of Leahy Hall, where he supervises dissection and instructs D.P.T. candidates during the summer. Rapidly moving from cadaver table to cadaver table, he attempts to personalize the experience and attend to the learning needs of his students. What most people don’t realize is that Dr. Mattingly makes his expertise and the cadaver lab available to other departments, especially the Nursing and the Exercise Science departments. His collaboration is at the heart of a culture of sharing resources and research at The University of Scranton.
22
Ignite Faculty work in the Ignatian tradition
Dr. Catherine Lovecchio and Dr. Sharon Hudacek use the cadaver lab as an element of the Nursing Department’s seniorlevel surgical nursing course. According to Dr. Lovecchio, the Nursing Department utilizes Dr. Mattingly’s “highest level of expertise.” The experience is one of Dr. Hudacek’s “favorite days” because of the impact it makes on her students. Her students do not see the cadavers as cadavers; rather they see them as “anatomical landmarks.” The cadavers present 65 nursing students with a spectrum of varying ages and problems. Each cadaver offers a new means of applying book knowledge to actual anatomy and physiology. They are used to illustrate differences in the human body as the students study the universal human neurological, orthopedic and renal systems, which are the focus of this unit of the course. In examining the cadavers, nursing students find anomalies created by aging and disease, such as knee replacements, arthritis, polycystic disease and heart stents. Students get to examine the spinal cord and peripheral nerves in varying conditions. Dr. Hudacek says that her students are always amazed that a person with a 6-foot-4inch frame will have a spinal cord no longer than a person with a 5-foot-4-inch frame, between 12 to 16 inches. The experience provided by Dr. Mattingly brings together the theoretical and the practical. Through their reading and classes, most nursing students see only the external evidence of disease and wear and tear on a patient’s body. Seeing the nature of health problems from the inside makes tasks that may seem unimportant, like the positioning of a patient in a bed, as necessary and central to the comfort and treatment of the patient and possibly key to helping the patient heal. Based on her and her students’ experiences with Dr. Mattingly and the cadaver lab, Dr. Hudacek hopes to one day have an interdisciplinary course that will bridge nursing and physical therapy.