Transformational Gift Will Support the Future of the Schneck Anatomy Lab

An excellent teacher can change a life and deepen a lifelong connection to the University where it all began. 

For S. Jay Hirsh, MD, MED ’70, that teacher was Carson D. Schneck, MD, PhD. “He loved teaching and loved people. Dr. Schneck showed me I could become a doctor,” says Hirsh, who went on to become a distinguished urologist.

The high-tech Schneck Gross Anatomy Lab, where Temple students still learn by doing, was opened in 2009 to honor the pioneering teacher who taught at the Katz School of Medicine for 50 years, shaping generations of physicians and surgeons. Now Hirsh has extended the legacy with a $1 million gift to keep this essential learning space always on the cutting edge.

"The most important thing in my life is family. Temple's School of Medicine has always been a part of my family, and they've made me feel part of their family," says Hirsh. "That's why I became a donor." 

Hirsh can still recall working on cadavers in Schneck’s classroom with 136 fellow first-year students like it was yesterday. “It was a tough time, but the best of times, too,” says Hirsh. “Dr. Schneck and many of his colleagues—Raymond Truex, Sr., J. Robert Troyer, Morton J. Oppenheimer—taught us to respect the body and the wealth of information it imparts in life and after death.”

Top photo caption: S. Jay Hirsh, MD, MED '70, pictured as a Temple Med School student.

Bottom photo caption: The Medical Gross Anatomy course is a cornerstone of the first-year curriculum for each new class of medical students. The value of this immersive experience depends on a combination of the best teachers and the best technology.