2009 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 52-60
Photographs of outward appearances of the pituitary gland were not found in the “illustration book”, which are supplementary teaching materials for biology in high schools. Among students of a medical vocational school within 1 year after graduation of the high school, 35% of them had seen the pituitary gland. That ratio was signifi cantly lower than that of students who had seen the cerebrum or the cerebellum. Ratios of students who had seen the pituitary gland in books, on TV etc., and by the real thing were lower than that of students who had seen either the cerebrum or the cerebellum. Compared with frozen rats, fresh heads and frozen heads of chickens and South African clawed frogs, a fresh head of a chicken seemed to be the most suitable for the observation of the pituitary gland by the dissection. Having observed the real pituitary gland of a chicken, the number of students whose expectation proved mistaken was more than those whose expectation proved accurate especially on the “size” of the organ. The present study suggest that the observation of the pituitary gland by the dissection may be helpful to leave a strong impression in students of the medical vocational school.
