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"Her first creation... was a 'vaginal vault' made of a cardboard toilet-paper roll, Play-Doh and a badminton shuttlecock..."

By Ann Althouse

"She has also constructed a scrotum using two wood balls linked by a rubber band (vas deferens) and suspended in an extra-large condom filled with oil and peanut butter."

It's not another art show. This is a serious medical project: Designing anatomical models to train doctors to get over their prudishness so they can examine body parts properly:

[Dr. Carla Pugh] often buys penises at adult ?novelty? shops, though they are all erect and circumcised, and sometimes welds on rubber tubing used for synthetic intestines when a foreskin is needed....

?We need permission to fail in a safe environment,? [Dr. Richard M. Satava] said. ?Aviation has used simulators since 1955 that are now almost indistinguishable from flying real airplanes and have achieved a remarkable safety record. It?s time that health care followed.?

The models need not be particularly high-tech. ?A very sophisticated simulator would be too much for a student,? he said. ?For simple tasks like a pelvic exam, a simple simulator like Carla?s is actually preferable. You don?t teach a teenager to drive in a million-dollar Ferrari.?

Full post as published by Althouse on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).