The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on Wednesday that it has designated the Catholic University of Korea and Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital as Anatomy Education Support Centers to improve the educational environment for medical students' dissection training.

The Anatomy Education Support Centers’ operational support project is part of the “Investment Plan for Improving Medical School Education Conditions” announced last year to enhance the educational environment for medical students.

The Anatomy Education Support Centers will connect medical schools facing a shortage of donated bodies with potential donors through consultations with the families of the deceased, and provide guidance to medical schools on the entire body donation process to support the smooth operation of each university's donation system.

Furthermore, the centers will provide practical training environments, including bodies and dissection practice spaces, to prepare for temporary spikes in educational demand.

“As we are in the initial phase of the project, we will continuously gather field opinions regarding the body donation system and the use of bodies for medical education and research to support improvements in the anatomy practice environment for medical students,” Jeong Tong-ryong, the ministry’s public health policy officer, said.

The Anatomy Education Support Center operational support project will run until the end of this year, with a budget of 512 million won ($369,140) allocated. Each center will receive 256 million won in support, comprising 46 million won for personnel costs and 210 million won for operational expenses.