Anatomy fear!

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slatka000

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I am hoping to get into dental school, but I fear anatomy class:scared: .
My boyfriend is currently attending to med-school and this semester he had his first lab's experiences. He comes home traumatized and he' is considering the vegetarian life style!

I am affraid that I am a great student but I won't be able to see cadavers. 😱 when I see his books and pics, I get the chills!


does anyone feels the same way?😕
 
if you think dentistry is all about filling cavities then i don't think you really know what you're getting yourself into....unless i'm wrong. you have to learn about the body and understand how it works in order to treat people. for example, you need to know where the nerves are and where they travel to in order to numb the right areas or give antibiotics before you do surgery to prevent infections.

being scared is just a fear you have to try to overcome if you really wanna do this career. i know it's harder to do than saying it, but there are people out there like you who are able to overcome it. so you can do it. just don't let the fear get the best of you. you are in control of your own mind.
 
Thanx I needed to hear that. I'm just horrofied by it. I don't even go to funerals. sometimes people become desensitized with time, I hope I am one of those cases...
 
instead of thinking that a cadaver a disgusting and useless thing to learn....think of it in this light....the cadaver enhances your knowledge of the body and understanding how it functions, you can then help treat and save people's lives with that knowledge you gained. if you think about the main reason as to why you need to learn this (help people) then that might take off a bit of the stress and fear.

i'm just as scared as you are when i had to dissect bodies, but i try to think about my main goal and that is to help people with the knowledge i learned. so this helps me be stronger. just something i thought would help you overcome your fear. you're not alone.
 
I really don't think about it being disgusting. It is more like a fear...I know childish...
 
bateria in plaques also affect heart desease.....so theres correlation between teethe and the whole body
 
The dentist I'm shadowing told me gross anatomy was one of he first classes they had to take. They had one or two students drop out after the class because they just couldn't handle it.

I'm no expert on phobias, but I'd say that's definitely something you should try to overcome before dental school. Try Google.
 
You should have seen our class the day we met our cadavers the first time! And that very first day, we had to do quite an involved thing on them, too. (Guess they wanted us to know how it would be from the start). People were terrified that they wouldn't be able to handle it. Most dental schools are similar in that you start dissecting your first week of dental school.

For me, for the first few weeks I would always feel a bit weird after lab...not really grossed out, but more surreal and spacey and, "wow, I just did that to someone that was a human." But then I got used to it, and so did everyone else. Eventually, by the end, a little bit would fall on our sneakers and we wouldn't even blink 😉 😉 Sure, it's the most disgusting thing you'll ever do, most likely, but you adjust . And more importantly, once you actually start getting lectures, you'll be so panicked to actually LEARN the stuff that you get past the cadaver itself.

Remember that there's usually a few people to a body, and there will be lots of enthusiastic people ready to start, so maybe the first few labs you can sit back and just watch and get used to it. Just offer to clean the table or do something so your group doesn't think you're a mooch...the professors are totally used to this.

Also, the chaplain guy who came in for a short ceremony at the beginning brought up a good point for me: he said that before the people died, they were probably surrounded by loving people who cared a lot about them. Now, they are also surrounded be caring people, fascinated by them as a person, and it's still a sort of....loving environment, in a way. Don't mean to get cheezy, but I think feeling a respect for the person helped me a bit.

Good luck! Somehow, everyone gets through it!
 
Gross Anatomy is gross
 
The first day we made a nice cut from the back of the head to the bum and then retracted some flaps. It really wasn't as bad as it looks. It can be quite fun if you really get into it...like elbow deep in lots of tissue.😱
 
1992Corolla said:
The first day we made a nice cut from the back of the head to the bum and then retracted some flaps. It really wasn't as bad as it looks. It can be quite fun if you really get into it...like elbow deep in lots of tissue.😱
Click to expand...
92C, does gross start in the fall at Temple? Is at the dental school, or up at Kresge?
 
Just started two weeks ago...lecture is in Kresge and cadavers are on floor 7.
 
I was fortunate to be able to dissect cadavers in undergrad Anatomy. I think almost everyone who was in the class was a bit apprehensive about working on them, but the fears and anxiety usually left as soon as you starting digging your hands inside, peeling back the integument, etc.

Just a few things to keep in mind:

1. our cadavers had the hands and face covered for most of the quarter. Dental school probably will spend a lot more time on the head and neck, however.

2. these people freely donated their bodies to science so that you could learn from them. that's a pretty major gift.

3. It is usually easier to think of the cadavers as specimens rather than "ex-people," however, you should always be respectful that these bodies used to be someone's father, mother, etc.


Try to keep a scientific mindset, and you should be able to get over your heebie jeebies. I gave a tour of that anatomy lab to some junior high kids, and *most* of them ended up putting on gloves and exploring the insides of the cadavers. I think there was only one girl who didn't look for more than a couple seconds. I'm sure you can do it.
 
I've been kind of interested to start gross anatomy (though I know its a LOT of content) for about 5-6 years. I want to see what's inside in more than just pictures, but a good friend of mine who is an MD almost passed out. I'm most concerned about the smell. She got over it... I guess you have to. No worries
 
I used to do lots of cadaver work for a job.

Two things should help:

1) Cover as much of the body as possible while dissecting...then it no longer feels like a body.
2) SIT DOWN WHEN YOU CUT AND STUDY. If at all possible. Then you can just shut your eyes now and then so you won't pass out.
3) Don't eat right before. Doesn't matter how used to it you are...it always seems to mess you up.
4) Realize the education aspect and dont let your mind wonder. Get in there, do your business, and get out. Pretend you are a surgeon if you have to. Just don't start thinking about it all and get yourself all worked up.
5) Try not to learn anything about the donor. If you don't know they had a family, assume they don't. Assume they were bred for this sole purpose. It helps because you won't think about the family or anything. This may seem wierd but it helped ALOT for myself and my fellow employees.

After awhile you will be comfortable I'm sure. Just don't walk in the first day and say "Ewww". Don't feed your fear...just get in and get it done. Cadaver work is suprisingly important when learning anatomy. It comes MUCH quicker when you get to see it all.
 
As an advice, after working as a dental assistant and seeing all those mouths with lots of tartar, blood .. and smelling from candy to tuna fish ... the way I look at it is like this:

We are all made of matter and energy, and the matter ( the human body) is made of pure chemicals that interact with each other to create a marvelous piece of art .. "us" .. so bones and tissues are made out of protein, carbohydrates, fats, etc.

When I first starting working, I was a little disgusted with blood, but know .. that is the way I see it, and it has helped me a lot. Just look at it as an learning instrument!
 
simple answer:

Go to NYU. No dissection there.
 
to the OP: anatomy is perhaps the best and most fascinating class in both med and dent school....enjoy it
 
1. I would advise you to read the book "Stiff" by Mary Roach. It is a factual, sometimes amusing, and very compassionate book about uses of cadavers for learning and research and the people who work with cadavers. It is an excellent read, and is currently very popular.


2. Try to go to BodyWorlds or one of those other exhibits of plasticized human bodies...this will help desensitize you. Better to pass out at the museum than in the lab!

3. I also believe that some dental schools are phasing out cadaver dissection in lieu of simulations and other ways of learning gross anatomy. Actually, in "Stiff" they say even some medical schools will be phasing it out or radically modifying how it is currently done over the next decade.

Also, try The Phobia Workbook...it could help you work through it so that you could at least attend funerals!
 
I was going to post the exact same thing... read Stiff and go see Body Worlds... and don't ever think of doing forensic dentistry.

Cadavers are not scarry.... they almost don't even look human anymore.. u will see.... just think of it as , i know this will sound bad, but if you like to cook, and you have to handle raw chicken, it is no different than that.

But no body really gets used to it 100% of the time.... you just learn to deal with it after a while.
 
Gut shoot a deer and then field dress it. That may help you get over the smell part because it smells a lot worse than a cadaver.

I'm actually not very good with needles, and lately I've been trying to get over that by watching the needle jab into me. Ugh...makes me woozy.
 
At Nova Dental students don't do the disections for gross. The med students do them.
 
KOM said:
I'm actually not very good with needles, and lately I've been trying to get over that by watching the needle jab into me. Ugh...makes me woozy.
Click to expand...

Since we're on the topic of anatomy fears, is there any way to get rid of a slight needle phobia? I'm okay about 50% of the time with them, but sometimes it just takes someone discussing a procedure using needles to knock me out cold.
 
In dental assisting school, we had to volunteer at a dental school for a few days. My first time EVER assisting was in oral surgery. I was scared because I thought seeing blood and holding someone's cut off gums would be gross. But once I was in there, I forgot about all that. The only thing that mattered to me was making the patient feel better, and taking the pain away. It's really interesting what you find out about yourself once you're placed in the real situation 🙂
 
after a lab or two, you'll get used to it. The worst is probably when we had to dissect out all the fat in the exterior layers to expose the cavities in the thorax and abdominal regions. Once you're in there though, it's really nothing. The worst part of anatomy lab is the smell....i still can't stand it, but that's just something you gotta deal with.
 
I was reading one of the dental blogs and a guy there mentioned that they had to skin their cadavers. That almost changed my mind about going to dental school. I don't have any needle phobias whatsoever, but skining a human being is something I just could never do. Let's hope he was exaggerating.
 
frankly, i found the skinning of the cadavers to be the easiest part. all the cleanup after that was the annoying part. I'm hoping that the cadavers I get are "fresh" and don't have the skin already removed.
 
I am hoping to get into dental school, but I fear anatomy class:scared: .
My boyfriend is currently attending to med-school and this semester he had his first lab's experiences. He comes home traumatized and he' is considering the vegetarian life style!

you need to understand that the body is just a vessel.. a suit.. a vehicle transporting the soul
you have to watch videos and try to get close to this as close as possible.. you dont fear to cut plants why? because you dont feel its pain.... its somehow the same... you can watch animals cut into pieces?! why not humans? because you feel something.. that feeling is there because you only saw unharmed people... people who were alive.. just need to find a new feeling.. you fear what you cant understand.. try to understand that these people are dead and gone ine peace

you are there to free them from their suits because nobody wears them anymore.. step by step.. maybe start with animals?
 
^ necrobump? I'm assuming some of the above SDN users are practicing dentists by now! 😉
 
Zee Doc said:
I am hoping to get into dental school, but I fear anatomy class:scared: .
My boyfriend is currently attending to med-school and this semester he had his first lab's experiences. He comes home traumatized and he' is considering the vegetarian life style!

you need to understand that the body is just a vessel.. a suit.. a vehicle transporting the soul
you have to watch videos and try to get close to this as close as possible.. you dont fear to cut plants why? because you dont feel its pain.... its somehow the same... you can watch animals cut into pieces?! why not humans? because you feel something.. that feeling is there because you only saw unharmed people... people who were alive.. just need to find a new feeling.. you fear what you cant understand.. try to understand that these people are dead and gone ine peace

you are there to free them from their suits because nobody wears them anymore.. step by step.. maybe start with animals?
Click to expand...
plants don't feel pain and I don't think most people are completely cool with seeing animals cut into pieces...even those that eat meat

but the only soul I believe in is soul food and soul music 😎
 
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