For participants

Tampere Surgical Education Centre is designed to serve as a teaching venue for various surgical specialties and clinical anatomy. By following the instructions, cadaver training is safe and rewarding!

Enrollment in training

Most of the training events are organized either by the units of the Wellbeing Service County of Pirkanmaa or by our partners, and one cannot enroll in them through TSEC or the Wellbeing Service County’s training calendar. TSEC organizes some courses on its own, which can be attended by those outside the Wellbeing Service County of Pirkanmaa. They are announced on our Educational events website.

Healthcare professionals from outside the Pirkanmaa region can also participate as visitors in trainings events arranged by the units of the Wellbeing Service County of Pirkanmaa. The training is chargeable to the visitor, 430 € + general VAT / visitor / day (2025). The visit must always be agreed with the person in charge of the training. Visitors must inform about their participation in internal training in advance by sending email to tsec@pirha.fi or by filling the inquiry for visitors. When registering, the visitor must provide their contact and billing information and billing reference. The training is billed afterwards according to the provided billing information. The payer must be the visitor's employer, not, for example, a sponsoring company.

Tampere Surgical Education Centre does not accept interns and is not open for student exchange. Medical students or doctors wishing to intern in some surgical specialty can submit their applications to Tampere University (Erasmus+ etc.) or to the clinics of Tampere University Hospital.

Protection against infectious diseases and principles of asepsis

Cadaver training in TSEC is performed on fresh cadavers, whose backgrounds are investigated as well as possible. The information is obtained from electronic patient records as well as from the next of kin. We do not use deceased who are known or suspected of having an infectious disease.

However, the cadavers used in training have not been tested for infectious diseases. Therefore, we ask you to carefully follow our instructions on protective clothing and aseptic technique. During hands-on training on cadavers, one should follow the same guidelines as in operation theatre on live patients to prevent bloodborne transmission. We recommend everyone in the surgical field to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B virus.

Read more about the risk of infections in cadaver training and how to avoid them.

Radiation protection

If X-ray fluoroscopy or O-arm imaging is needed during the training, please read more about our radiation protection guidelines.

Respect for the deceased and duty of confidentiality

We expect participants to show respect for the deceased because of the unique training opportunity they offer and treat the deceased as their patient. That includes strict adherence to instructions given by the TSEC staff. Only those procedures that are planned for the occasion will be carried out at the training session.

During or after the training session, it is not acceptable to discuss the features or findings of the deceased in front of outsiders. Even a factual discussion may compromise the identity protection of the deceased and cause offence or inconvenience.

Photographing or video recording of the deceased by the participants is strictly prohibited. The real-time image transmitted to the meeting room or lecture hall must also not be recorded. Turn to our staff if you or your group have a need for photos taken in the surgical laboratory.

If necessary, ask for more information from our staff.

By signing the Commitment to the rules of Tampere Surgical Education Centre, you affirm that you will comply with the rules of TSEC described on the form. The signed commitment is given to the coordinator before entering the surgical laboratory. The commitment is valid for five years.