gross anat lab HELPPPPPPP!!!

[mshahid]

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hey guys! we received our cadavers today and we have a 300 lb amputee we spent 6 hours clearing off fat around the axilla and it feels like we haven't gotten any where yet! can someone tell me about a chemical that will melt the fat away?!? plzzzz

 

[greatnt249]

hey guys! we received our cadavers today and we have a 300 lb amputee we spent 6 hours clearing off fat around the axilla and it feels like we haven't gotten any where yet! can someone tell me about a chemical that will melt the fat away?!? plzzzz

I don't know what chemicals you would even have access to in lab; you can expect to have to clear away some fat and fascia on your own, but you really had to clear away all that fat on your own?

 

[MossPoh]

I'm surprised that a person that size is even there. Maybe it is a state by state thing, but they don't accept cadavers for undergraduate anatomy that are morbidly obese here. They'll gladly and gratefully use the body for other things, but an M1 anatomy class isn't one.

 

[engineeredout]

Show this thread to a premed worried about prosection vs dissection.

 

[njbmd]

hey guys! we received our cadavers today and we have a 300 lb amputee we spent 6 hours clearing off fat around the axilla and it feels like we haven't gotten any where yet! can someone tell me about a chemical that will melt the fat away?!? plzzzz

There are no "fat melting" chemicals out there. You carefully clean and remove the fat from the structures. Though you have your work cut out for you, you can divide up the cleaning and identification chores among your tank group and prepare to spend some extra time in the lab. My cadaver in medical school was not small and thus we just resigned ourselves to spending the extra time. It turned out to be worth it for all of us as we did very well in in anatomy.

Your cadaver may turn out to have good anatomy and may yet yield some great stuff. The best thing is that if you find something on your cadaver, you likely won't have any difficulties finding it on other bodies. This makes for high gross practical grades.

 

[wryandwatchful]

You'll get good at removing the fat in no time. It'll still take extra time but just focus on honing your skills early in the game and set a good pace. Learn the anatomy really well so you know where you'll have to pay extra attention and where you can remove fat easily following a fascial plane.

I dissected one body that was 250lbs and felt similarly overwhelmed. You'll become more confident with some time. I doubt complaining to anyone will change anything, so just try to accept the challenge for what it is and move forward with a good plan.

 

[Green Grass]

My cadaver was HUGE - morbidly obese, yet after the dissections were complete our cadaver was one of the most popular in the lab. He turned out to be great for viewing - so don't give up just yet!

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

Caffeine. You take the chemical, and stay up all night and clean fat. You just gotta suck it up.

You are soooooooooo not alone in this endeavor.

 

[physics junkie]

Quite frankly, you're doing it wrong. You'll get faster. I remember spending an hour carving into the gluteal region asking myself "is this fascia? am I going to deep?" Then a lab TA came up and cleared the remaining 75% in the next 5 minutes.

 

[ShyRem]

You get better at "fat-pickin'" as lab goes on. You'll also find there are perhaps people in your table group that are better at cutting and gross clearing and others that are good at pickin' the fat. Also, if you all get together to pick the fat, it's a good time to quiz each other, talk about non-medical stuff, and in general just get together (unless you hate each other).

 

[mshahid]

aww!! thanks for the encouragement guys! 😀 I wasn't trying to complain but rather find a way to get down to the structures i really need to learn quicker. We set up a rotation schedule for the lab so hopefully things will get better! The reason i asked if there was a chemical, beside caffeine 😉, was because our neuro prof told us there as one...he just wouldn't tell us the name. I hate to waste time..but i guess i'll just have to get this done 👎

 

[hoqhuuep]

If you ever find this fat-melting chemical, please let me know. It's not easy trying to get over to the gym everyday.

 

[turkeyjerky]

If you ever find this fat-melting chemical, please let me know. It's not easy trying to get over to the gym everyday.

Just do really fast, sloppy dissesections (go through the motions, don't worry about throwing the baby out with the baby fat) and then spend the time you saved studying netters/whatever else you use. Then later, when everyone else is done w/ lab, go back in and study other peoples dissections.

I'm serious--don't listen to anyone who says you need to be able to find stuff in your own cadaver, they just want you to suffer. I spent only the required time in lab (which I spent goofing off mostly) and was one of the top students in my class. If you know landmarks and can tell the difference between a nerve and an artery you'll do fine as long as you know the anatomy.

 

[engineeredout]

Just do really fast, sloppy dissesections (go through the motions, don't worry about throwing the baby out with the baby fat) and then spend the time you saved studying netters/whatever else you use. Then later, when everyone else is done w/ lab, go back in and study other peoples dissections.

I'm serious--don't listen to anyone who says you need to be able to find stuff in your own cadaver, they just want you to suffer. I spent only the required time in lab (which I spent goofing off mostly) and was one of the top students in my class. If you know landmarks and can tell the difference between a nerve and an artery you'll do fine as long as you know the anatomy.

Congratulations! You've won the John Edwards Douchebag Award™

The John Edwards Douchebag Award™ is not something that is given to just anyone. You have to rise above the level of douchbagginess of 200$ haircuts, multi-million dollar ambulance chasing malpractice lawsuits, and cheating on your cancer strickened wife.

You should be proud.

 

[Cp22kjer]

Thats a rough situation. Now you've got me wondering what my cadaver will be like...

Good luck in your dissecting.

 

[turkeyjerky]

Congratulations! You've won the John Edwards Douchebag Award™

The John Edwards Douchebag Award™ is not something that is given to just anyone. You have to rise above the level of douchbagginess of 200$ haircuts, multi-million dollar ambulance chasing malpractice lawsuits, and cheating on your cancer strickened wife.

You should be proud.

Well at least I have a cute smile!