Gross Anatomy Dissection

[mdmdub27]

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Hey Guys,

Since not all of the school websites always state specifically, would anyone happen to know if any of the DO schools implement gross anatomy dissection labs? Although it won't effect my ultimate decision, I was sort of dissappointed to learn that a lot of them offer prosection as an alternative. I know I'll learn the same material either way, I prefer the more hands on approach.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Best of luck to everyone🙂

 

[engineeredout]

We technically have "PRosection" at LECOM, but believe me you're still digging down into your cadaver and exploring. Prosection only means that they cut away the skin and subcu fat, as well as maybe cut the skull open. We still cut muscles to find other muscles, nerves, and in upper limb we took apart the hand completely, digging down.

Don't be dissuaded with prosection, I think its the best way to go because you're not wasting your time cutting away as much extra fat.

I'd only be wary of schools which do virtual dissection (PBL at LECOM-E is virtual dissection, normal lecture-based is prosection).

 

[rddoms]

It seems as if a lot of schools are implementing prosection. Personally, I think every medical student should have to make the first cut into their cadaver. I had a great experience with anatomy, and it is really helpful for those of us who are visual learners. Unfortunately, prosection looks like it will be the wave of the future.

 

[mdmdub27]

Thanks for your reply🙂 I'm actually glad that was clarified because some medical students I know have said that you basically just stand there and watch someone else do the work. I suppose it's just a case where you get as much out of it as you put into it.

 

[ShyRem]

UNE does dissection. I think it's a good thing and well worth it. You get more of a feel for where stuff is in the human body, how it lies in the fat, etc. If you look at prosection, you can name them, but cutting into the body itself is a whole different ball of wax.

 

[Chocolate Bear]

OP, if you search, we had a fairly lengthy discussion on the issue last year. Various schools' policies and the different variations were talked about. You'd probably find it very helpful.

 

[tnig469]

At PCSOM, we have a gross anatomy dissection lab. We have to cut everything, find everything, and more importantly smell everything. Cadaver pictures in books are almost perfect examples. When in lab you can REALLY see what the human body looks like on most people.

 

[MossPoh]

It seems as if a lot of schools are implementing prosection. Personally, I think every medical student should have to make the first cut into their cadaver. I had a great experience with anatomy, and it is really helpful for those of us who are visual learners. Unfortunately, prosection looks like it will be the wave of the future.

I wouldn't say "visual learner" as much as much as kinesthetic. I'm very visual and despised the actual dissection. I loved the nicely prosected cadavers because I could go in and dig through and actually find stuff without killing hours pulling out fat or dissecting out various arteries or nerves for hours, only to find out it is actually a variation.

We had a mix. One day we dissected and one day we viewed a prosection of what our group did and what we do tomorrow. I almost always learned more from the prosection, including relationships. While I was dissecting, it was a truly mindless experience for me. We all learn differently, so I just thought I'd offer a different viewpoint.

 

[drfosho]

Dissecting is a waste of time.

 

[schussboarder]

dissection = huge waste of time. Our group literally had to sift through and pull fat and facia off of our rather large cadaver for a majority of the lab period. After removing what I would estimate to be around 8-10 pounds of back fat we finally were able to see trap and lat dorsi. If we just used prosections it probalbly would have saved us around an hour or so.

I prefer the weeks when the other lab group does the initial dissection of the given region.

 

[p30doc]

Nova was prossection last year but they have gone back to dissection this year, so as an M1 we are dissecting.

 

[rugger14]

PCOM is dissection..i'm about to start that tomorrow!

 

[Bacchus]

PCOM is dissection..i'm about to start that tomorrow!

Let's hope nothing wierd happens! Although I'd love to lay down on the pass-out couch, haha.

 

[SaharaGirl]

Hey Guys,

Since not all of the school websites always state specifically, would anyone happen to know if any of the DO schools implement gross anatomy dissection labs? Although it won't effect my ultimate decision, I was sort of dissappointed to learn that a lot of them offer prosection as an alternative. I know I'll learn the same material either way, I prefer the more hands on approach.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Best of luck to everyone🙂

RVU is dissecting. We have 4 students per cadaver and we already went through back & spine, and now working on Upper Limb

 

[bleeker10]

We started gross lab about 2.5 weeks ago. We have made it through the back, arm/hand, and leg/foot as of today. We have our first lab practical Friday. I will say prosection rocks to some extent. If you are the groups dissecting, it can take awhile to get through everything. But if you are the last group that just views everything, then you can fly through all the material in an hour

 

[Siggy]

Western is doing dissections. 8 students (from the different schools) per cadaver split into two groups of 4 with each group alternating. Additionally, there is a summer course that you can take (Intensive Summer Anatomy Course, ISAC) which has less per cadver, but at a faster pace. For the ISAC students, they act as lab facilitators instead of taking anatomy with the rest of the students.

 

[ILikeFood]

Western is doing dissections. 8 students (from the different schools) per cadaver split into two groups of 4 with each group alternating. Additionally, there is a summer course that you can take (Intensive Summer Anatomy Course, ISAC) which has less per cadver, but at a faster pace. For the ISAC students, they act as lab facilitators instead of taking anatomy with the rest of the students.

You bump into any short asian girls from the dental program?

 

[chup12682]

Personally, I prefer utilizing the various learning methods to accomplish the same goal. Some people are solely auditory learners, some people like to learn by doing things, and some people learn best by seeing things. I prefer the later two. I'm always using a skeleton to study or the netter's flashcards and it helps when it comes to answering questions from the BRS books. It seems to me that TOUROCOM-NY facilitates my style of learning in the anatomy lab as each group of 5 students get their very own cadaver with another prosected cadaver at the head of the room. Being able to palpate superficial markers to locate where you want to cut can be helpful to some, as palpation is going to be a pretty big thing in our practice as well as things like lumbar punctures or epidurals (which we all had a chance to do on the side while dissecting the back). But that's what we do. Hope it helps.

 

[rkaz]

AZCOM does gross anatomy dissections. I have my first anatomy lab tomorrow and am both excited yet nervous!

 

[koojo]

I personally don't mind cutting the skin because that's part of the whole experience. I'm sure both methods have their ups and downs, but in the end it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. You're still going to learn the information they want you to learn.

 

[Siggy]

You bump into any short asian girls from the dental program?

Bump? Not really. After spending 4 years at UCI, I learned to always look down. 😉 Besides, it's almost impossible to keep tract of who's in which program. We don't have uniforms/color coded scrubs like Nova.