Bioskills Overview
Bioskills training offers direct, real-world medical experience that bridges the gap between academic instruction and live patient care. Modern medicine depends on precision, hands-on preparation, and continuous learning. And bioskills facilities provide ethical, realistic environments where healthcare professionals, first responders, and device developers can safely practice life-saving skills. Using tissue from anatomical specimens, these centers help close the gap between textbook theory and high-stakes clinical reality.
As the healthcare landscape evolves, bioskills training is essential to improving outcomes, accelerating device development, and maintaining system-wide readiness. This article explores the role of bioskills in modern medicine, highlights success stories, and outlines why state policy must support the continued growth and responsible regulation of this vital infrastructure. As Texas considers the future of bioskills oversight, it must focus on enabling high-quality training while avoiding barriers to innovation and access.
What Are Bioskills?
Bioskills refer to training that simulates real medical care using human anatomical specimens. An anatomical specimen is a clinical term for a donated human body or tissue used in education or research. These specimens, also often referred to as cadavers, allow physicians, paramedics, and clinical teams to rehearse surgeries, practice trauma responses, and test medical devices. Through hands‑on dissection and procedure rehearsal, healthcare professionals improve their skills in a safe, realistic setting.
Bioskills facilities, sometimes referred to as cadaver labs, host these trainings. In Texas, for instance, MedtoMarket in Austin, National Bioskills Laboratory in Dallas, and Cadaver Labs in San Antonio all provide specialized platforms for surgical education.
Why Bioskills Matter
1. Stronger Surgical Skills Lead to Better Outcomes
Books and videos are useful, but nothing compares to direct practice. Bioskills training allows doctors to work with real human anatomy in a safe environment. As a result, they make fewer errors during live surgeries, which improves patient safety and lowers healthcare costs.
2. Readiness for Rare or Complex Cases
Some surgeries happen infrequently, yet demand immediate expertise when they do occur. Bioskills labs allow healthcare workers to rehearse these challenging scenarios beforehand, ensuring they are ready when it counts most.
3. Faster, Safer Device Innovation
Medical-device companies depend on bioskills labs to test implants, surgical robots, and new techniques. This hands-on testing ensures the tools are safe and effective long before they enter the operating room.
4. Emergency & Military Preparedness
Whether for military medics or EMS responding to car crashes, real-time, high-pressure simulations boost decision-making, skill retention, and confidence. Therefore, bioskills labs are key to emergency readiness.
Policy Developments in Texas
Texas’ Recent Legislative Shift: SB 2040 (2023)
In 2023, the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 2040, which restructured oversight of anatomical donations and bioskills facilities. The law eliminated the long-standing Anatomical Board and transferred authority to the Texas Funeral Service Commission (TFSC), a regulatory agency with little prior experience in clinical or research environments. The bill also created a State Anatomical Advisory Committee with academic, commercial, and public members. Unfortunately, TFSC has implemented the changes slowly and unevenly. SB 2040 was described as a modernization effort, but it kept many outdated laws and failed to clarify key operational issues.
Additional Legislative Activity: SB 2721 (2025)
In 2025, lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 2721 to further revise laws governing whole-body donation and bioskills activity. The final bill proposed licensing, criminal penalties, and tracking requirements for organizations handling human remains. It was based on misinformation and reflected a limited understanding of how bioskills training works. The bill aimed to improve oversight and transparency, but its harsh approach could have harmed the role of bioskills in healthcare education. The legislation did not pass.
Challenges Ahead for Texas
Texas continues to face unresolved issues that will shape the future of the bioskills industry. These challenges point to the need for deliberate, informed policymaking, and targeted investment.
1. Bioskills Must Be Recognized as Essential Infrastructure
Bioskills facilities must be recognized as essential components of Texas’ healthcare and medical training infrastructure. Despite their proven role in improving patient safety, advancing device development, and preparing clinicians for high-risk procedures, they are still often misunderstood in public discourse and policy planning. In fact, this lack of awareness can limit investment, weaken regulatory focus, and stall innovation. Texas should promote the value of bioskills labs through legislation, public education, and workforce planning. This is key to making sure they get the support needed to meet the state’s growing clinical training needs.
2. Texas Needs a Functional, Purpose-Built Framework
The state still lacks a comprehensive and informed regulatory model tailored specifically to bioskills training. A workable statutory framework should reflect the complex needs of this hybrid field, which overlaps clinical education, anatomical science, public health, and ethics. Current rules remain under development, and the final outcome must be flexible enough to support innovation while still maintaining appropriate safeguards.
3. Clinicians and Operators Must Be Part of the Policy Process
Doctors, lab directors, and training specialists work directly with donated anatomical specimens and understand both operational realities and ethical considerations. If policymakers exclude these expert voices, the resulting laws and regulations may fail to reflect on-the-ground realities. Accordingly, any regulatory evolution must prioritize input from bioskills professionals—before, not after, rules are written.
4. Oversight Must Be Competent, Not Merely Assigned
Assigning regulatory authority is only the first step. The TFSC now holds that role, but its historical focus has been on funeral industry compliance, not on clinical, academic, or research operations. To succeed, Texas must ensure that its regulatory body, whether TFSC or a different agency, is equipped with the training, staffing, and institutional knowledge to understand and guide the bioskills sector effectively.
Conclusion: A Texas-Centered Path Forward
Bioskills facilities are not just nice to have; they are essential to the state’s healthcare future. They support surgical excellence, advance device innovation, and ensure preparedness across civilian and military medical systems. Texas has taken early steps to regulate this field, but mature policy is still unrealized. Moving forward, the Texas Legislature should refine the regulatory framework, involve clinical experts in policymaking, and prioritize public education around ethical body donation. By doing so, Texas can set a national example by showing how thoughtful governance strengthens both public trust and patient outcomes.
Ultimately, every patient deserves care from clinicians who have had access to the highest-quality training. Bioskills facilities make that standard achievable today. Texas can lead in this space with vision, integrity, and purpose.