Anatomy disection question

[TeNa]

This may sound like a stupid question but the truth is that I'm very concerned about it. I'll be starting med school aug 6th and my school starts with anatomy. I'm having back surgery tomorow and my mobility will be very restricted for at least a couple weeks into class. I was wondering how much bending is involved with dissecting cadavers, is it possible to disect without bending down.

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[deleted77919]

The tables are usually high enough there's no extreme bending, however, I often found myself bending over some.

I wouldn't worry about it, your school should be accomodating. What is important isn't the dissection skills aquired it's learning all of the structures, and to this end I did not find the time I spent in lab to be very helpful.

 

[megadon]

two things, I spent a lot of time on the school, cause my back tightens up if I spend a lot of time bent over, and you have three or four other people on your crew. I'm sure they will be somewhat accomadating as long as you put forth some effort to do the dissections.

 

[snumie]

The tables are quite high- and we also had stools that were also high- so I did alot of my dissecting sitting down- Good Luck- I have had back surgery twice- not fun.....

 

[relema]

I am so tall that i had to grab stools because i use to have to bend over so much but for most people it is not that bad.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Talk to your professor about observing dissections only until your back heals. The acts of cutting the bodies and cleaning fascia are not what's important to learning about the body, but rather observing the relationships, attachments, courses of vessels and nerves, etc. I see no reason why you shouldn't be excused from the labor intensive portions until you heal.

 

[Flopotomist]

You may find that your dissection group is grateful that there is one less person trying to get in there and cut. Frankly, it is pretty low-yield in my opinion to spend hours and hours dissecting and searching for some nerve when you can just look at it after it has been dissected by an eager scalpel-jockey.

I suggest getting a Rohens atlas, spending a LOT of time with it. Don't do any more work in the lab than you have to especially if your back needs special attention. Drift in after your group has finished the labor, and make sure you can identify everything you need to.

To make up some of the work-load to the group, you can type up outlines of things they need to know (use Chung, and a baby Moore to help with this). Come up with sample test questions for them. You can also make lists of all structures you are responsible for and quiz the group. There are plenty of things you can do so that you are participating without actually hurting your back.

Good luck.

 

[ZagDoc]

In the same boat. Had shoulder surgery 3 weeks ago (2nd of that shoulder), so my range of mobility on my right (dominant) arm is severly limited. Hoping I can get it up to speed in time. But, like Floptomist said, what most students I've talked to complain about in antomy lab is crowding around the cadaver... so one less person trying to hog the scalpel the first few weeks (gotta love type A personalities) wont likely hurt you and may help the group dynamic.

Just review on your own after hours later on when youre feeling better and use a lot of Rohen's/Grant's/etc in conjunction with Netter's.

 

[Law2Doc]

You may find that your dissection group is grateful that there is one less person trying to get in there and cut.

Agree. If you wanted to stand upright or sit on a stool and peer from a more comfortable position while others do the cutting rather than be hunched over the body, nobody is likely going to have a problem with that. Everybody shows up to med school very gung ho and ready to cut, so there is no shortage of folks wanting to grab the blades and do the dirty work. You might miss a few things, but there are always atlases and models you can peruse.

 

[TeNa]

Thanks for the replies everybody, I'm off to my surgery now, wish me luck.