Proficiency in anatomy is pivotal in the education of future healthcare workers and ensures safe medical practice. Traditional anatomy lectures can be supplemented by a laboratory component, such as human whole-body donor dissection. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if students who take a dissection-based laboratory concurrently with lecture improve lecture grades, compared with lecture alone. Eight consecutive semesters of ordinal course grades for the lecture and laboratory sections, as well as students' GPA, were used. Additionally, student responses to randomly selected primary and tertiary questions were recorded, and the percentage correct for each group (Lecture versus Lecture + Lab) was calculated. There was a significant difference in the likelihood of higher grades between the two groups (p<0.0001). The odds of higher grades in Lecture + Lab group were 4.013 times the odds of higher grades in the Lecture group (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 4.013, 95% CI: 2.8356, 5.6794). In addition, GPA was significantly associated with lecture grades (p<0.0001). Students that took lab concurrently were more likely to answer primary (Lecture + Lab: 85% ± 20% vs. Lecture: 72% ± 23%; p<0.0001) and tertiary (Lecture + Lab: 71% ± 28% vs. Lecture: 55% ± 30%; p<0.0001) questions correctly than students that took lecture alone. Anatomical dissection of whole-body donors improves performance in didactic anatomy examinations and should be recommended to ensure proficiency in anatomical education.