Cadaver Lab

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Anyone who has completed the gross anatomy labs, please tell your experiences.

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It is fun. It is probably the best learning experience in PT school if your school uses cadavers. Some schools have pre-cut cadavers. When I was in school we had 3-4 students/cadaver. I recommend that you pick your cadaver quickly. On our first day, the majority of the students were in the corner and scared (a little). My friend and I immediately picked our cadaver...a skinny dude with no fat!!! We had one cadaver that we nicknamed, Juicy Lucy, because she had a ton of adipose tissue. Even in cold lab rooms, the tissues becomes liquid and when you have to flip the cadavers, you don't want a Juicy Lucy. As for me, I was good with a knife and developed a reputation as a Japanese steakhouse cook with small bits of tissue flying in the air. Each lab session I would leave with a small bit here or there in my hair...lol! The faster you got done...the more you get to examine your work and study...the best part is the following semester (depending on the school) in neuroanatomy when you use a bone saw and cut the skull to remove the brain! Fun stuff...
 
I've heard the horror stories of getting stuck with a fatty and having to wade through it all to get to anything. I'm somewhat squeamish, can't imagine how I'm going to deal with it, but I imagine it's just one of those things where you get in there and do it. Any squeamish people in your class who absolutely couldn't handle it, got sick, or didn't want to make cuts? I've also heard about the fluid buckets.. :eek:
 
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Having dug through a woman's perineum area, one's outlook on life will never be the same. But seriously I loved it, as the anatomy teacher said "this is going to be the class you're talking about the rest of your life". Additionally I think that less than 0.1% of the world ever gets such an opportunity.
 
FNG I read your post while not totally with it. I kind of put together "I loved it" with "digging through a woman's perineum" and almost puked. Then I figured out you were talking about the course in general.

I have since stopped puking and agree with you. It's a great experience...the course.

:D
 
My class had several students that were scared about the lab but got over it quickly. The cadavers do not appear to be real...meaning, one quickly views the body as an object and not a person. We kept the faced covered which helps (until removing the brain) and remember, there is no blood...it has been drained. Funny part is when we start wound management viewing slides two students had to leave...one puked, twice... the other fainted twice hitting his head the second time...he had no problems with the cadavers but the site of pictures involving wounds made him sick...you'll get over it and trust me, you remember it as one of the best learning experiences in your academic life.
 
Gross anatomy, also known as morbid/functional/cadaver anatomy, in a professional PT program is the most practical way to learn of the human body's inner workings. It's most beneficial, if allowed by your instructor, to be able to rotate and see the different bodies in your lab, even if for just browsing, to compare and contrast morphologies, gender specific differences, anomalies, etc. often exhibited in the donated specimens.

I implore anyone not familiar with such a lab to please consider these diseased human beings and their solemn commitment to donate their physical beings to advance scientific knowledge. Respect them as if they're alive. It's all in good fun to briefly joke about a certain physical feature of a given specimen, some of which most of us possess as well, but when the joking carries on to the point in which detracts from the learning experience and desecrates the person's wishes to advance scientific knowledge, it doesn't reflect the professional one's to become. Most anatomy instructors are very serious about this, so it will behoove every student to understand this concept.

I've taken and assisted in many gross anatomy courses and in a few of them I've had the privilege to disect from scratch the bodies. If allowed, this will take your experience to the next level. It takes a little more work and preparation to be able to do this. Some surgical techniques, instrumentation, steady hands are some of the required skills to do this correctly. If you have the chance and your lab anticipates undisected bodies, it is very helpful.

Hope this helps,

BoneKrusher
 
Buzz Killington is right. I wish we had a memorial service for our cadavers the way some schools do. Taking things lightly during the class is (IMO) a coping mechanism for some and harmless if it isn't over the top.
 
I would not say these next two stories I did not see them myself.

1. standing over open abdominal cavity. trying to find something or identify an anomalous vessel . Called the anatomy professor (who smoked a lot and would break his own rule about gum chewing in the lab) to give us a hand. Looked over the cadaver with the open belly, gum fell out, picked it up and put it back in his mouth. I saw it.

2. we were trying to find the adductor hiatus in a cadaver that didn't read the anatomy book when developing. different professor came over, ungloved, and stuck his arm between muscle bellies mid-forearm deep. He didn't find the opening, so asked for someone to bring their Grant's atlas over, he licked his finger, yes that one, and turned the page.
 
I would not say these next two stories I did not see them myself.

1. standing over open abdominal cavity. trying to find something or identify an anomalous vessel . Called the anatomy professor (who smoked a lot and would break his own rule about gum chewing in the lab) to give us a hand. Looked over the cadaver with the open belly, gum fell out, picked it up and put it back in his mouth. I saw it.

2. we were trying to find the adductor hiatus in a cadaver that didn't read the anatomy book when developing. different professor came over, ungloved, and stuck his arm between muscle bellies mid-forearm deep. He didn't find the opening, so asked for someone to bring their Grant's atlas over, he licked his finger, yes that one, and turned the page.


LMAO.. wow. They had obviously been doing these labs a little too long.

Do the bodies smell?
 
LMAO.. wow. They had obviously been doing these labs a little too long.

Do the bodies smell?

The bodies do have a very distinct odor to them, and some more so than others. At my anatomy class in college we had several pre-dissected bodies that we were studying. One was over 7 years old and that one had an absolutely horrific smell to it, almost making me sick. In general, formaldehyde smells rather sweet, kind of like yeast in baking bread or something. It's a very unique smell, and i guarantee it will be something that you have never experienced before, but it is no was unbearable. After a while you won't even be able to smell it.
 
LMAO.. wow. They had obviously been doing these labs a little too long.

Do the bodies smell?

I think anatomists take pride in being odd.
In my experience the bodies didn't smell too bad, except when you got to the sigmoid colon and rectum (for obvious reasons).
I've read that some med schools are taking away dissections and just having the students look at precut cadavers. I think that you learn a lot from struggling to find a given structure, only my two pesos.
 
cadavers smell of formaldehyde...if you are dissecting your own cadaver, one procedure requires you to cut the large intestine and tie it off...unfortunately, our cadaver still had some remaining fecal material...sorry if you are eating and reading this at the same time...in his intestine that smelled awful...it oozed out while we were trying to tie it off as quickly as possible...ahhh memories...lol
 
Cadaver lab was a blast, we had nine cadavers with 4-5 students per body and did the full dissection ourselves. It can be a little scary/creepy at first and the formaldehyde made my nose run like crazy the first few days, but once I started getting my hands dirty I really learned to love it! It also helps when your anatomy professor is insane/hilarious/brilliant and you can bribe him to spend more time with your group by hiding pennies throughout the cadaver. Our professor also has an album of each group standing by their cadaver and he gave us a copy too.

http://www.posdsm.com/uploads/images/1/sc000a9cba%20(Medium).jpg
 
Gross Anatomy is required for all University at Buffalo students majoring in exercise science. I was not in PT school when I took gross anatomy.
It was such a great experience for me though and my group members. We had 8-10 students per cadaver and we were further broken up into 3 different groups: A, B and C. Each group dissected their part and presented it to the students the next day. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. You get used to it after a while so don't worry. It is by far my favorite class so far. But you know what the greatest part is? I will have to re-take it if I decide to go to a DPT school other than UB. :)
 
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