Later this week, Washington University in St. Louis will be hosting the 2017 Vascular Access Society of the Americas (VASA) Hands-On Practium on Hemodialsis Access . Hundreds of health professionals will be attending to learn more about the latest in vascular access (VA) procedures. One of the activities available for VASA attendees is a viewing and presentation of human anatomical structures related to VA procedures in the upper limb. Today, some of the WU-SOM anatomy faculty dissected fresh (not embalmed) anatomical specimens, which we'll be presenting for the VASA activity. This was my first-ever dissection of fresh human tissue, and I'm truly honored and humbled to have had the experience. Drs. Krikor Dikranian (middle), Ritzman (right), and Morhardt (left) are the WU-SOM anatomists who prepared specimens for VASA. Human anatomical dissection dates back well over two millennia to Greek physicians in Alexandria. For much of the time since, human dissections were e