How common are cadaver labs in undergrad?

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This seems like a silly question but I took an anatomy course in second year and we had prosections and cadavers for the lab part. I didn't think much of it but I had an American friend who said I was super lucky to get that experience and most people didn't see cadavers until med school. Is he totally wrong? Or does it depend on the school in the States and a handful of UGs will have seen cadavers before they enter med?

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[Shjanzey]

We have plastic models you can disassemble and reassemble. It is pretty handy.

 

[Jepstein30]

depends on the school

cadavers are expensive

 

[mehc012]

This seems like a silly question but I took an anatomy course in second year and we had prosections and cadavers for the lab part. I didn't think much of it but I had an American friend who said I was super lucky to get that experience and most people didn't see cadavers until med school. Is he totally wrong? Or does it depend on the school in the States and a handful of UGs will have seen cadavers before they enter med?

I dunno...I always hear that they're unusual, but I've had the opportunity to take 2 separate Anatomy courses, both with cadavers, and neither at a 4-yr institution. So it can't be all THAT unusual.

 

[lmn]

Depends on the school, cadavers are expensive/hard to get a hold of, especially for smaller schools that don't have a ton of money or a huge alumni base with some members willing to donate their bodies to science/to their school afterwards. It does definitely still happen though, my school had cadavers that we worked with extensively despite not being a powerhouse biology school with an attached med school, but many more don't.

 

[ciestar]

For both anatomy courses I took we used cats, not cadavers.

 

[breakend]

Thanks for the responses. I'm asking because I'm wondering if TAing a course that uses cadavers for a couple semesters would put me at an advantage over applicants because I have experience with blood and guts so I won't faint in my first day of med school, etc. I don't want to make it sound like I had some rare special opportunity if turns out most others have had the same amount of exposure that I've had.

 

[lmn]

Thanks for the responses. I'm asking because I'm wondering if TAing a course that uses cadavers for a couple semesters would put me at an advantage over applicants because I have experience with blood and guts so I won't faint in my first day of med school, etc. I don't want to make it sound like I had some rare special opportunity if turns out most others have had the same amount of exposure that I've had.

The TAing will be nice to put on your application, but as far as not being grossed out by cadavers and what not, even if it was rare to work with cadavers in undergrad it definitely wouldn't help you at all when applying. I would definitely not mention this in reasoning why you should be accepted.

 

[Shjanzey]

Thanks for the responses. I'm asking because I'm wondering if TAing a course that uses cadavers for a couple semesters would put me at an advantage over applicants because I have experience with blood and guts so I won't faint in my first day of med school, etc. I don't want to make it sound like I had some rare special opportunity if turns out most others have had the same amount of exposure that I've had.

lol. I think you are missing the point if your goal is to "not vomit" on day 1 of medical anatomy.

 

[breakend]

The TAing will be nice to put on your application, but as far as not being grossed out by cadavers and what not, even if it was rare to work with cadavers in undergrad it definitely wouldn't help you at all when applying. I would definitely not mention this in reasoning why you should be accepted.

For sure. It really wasn't going to be the thesis of my PS but I mentioned it in passing when building on a different point. And now I know, in case it ever comes up in the interview?

lol. I think you are missing the point if your goal is to "not vomit" on day 1 of medical anatomy.

hah, fair enough. I definitely have more important goals for my first day but I can't act like it hasn't crossed my mind. I've definitely seen people pass out in the lab before.

 

[Shjanzey]

hah, fair enough. I definitely have more important goals for my first day but I can't act like it hasn't crossed my mind. I've definitely seen people pass out in the lab before.

I think it crosses everyone's mind. I shadow some surgeries to see how I would react. I ended up loving the experience, so much of my anxiety over cadavers is gone.

 

[ridethecliche]

I think it crosses everyone's mind. I shadow some surgeries to see how I would react. I ended up loving the experience, so much of my anxiety over cadavers is gone.

I'm not in med school, but I've watched surgeries on patients and learned how to do procedures on cadavers. Cadavers are way weirder than people.

 

[nellbot2000]

Thanks for the responses. I'm asking because I'm wondering if TAing a course that uses cadavers for a couple semesters would put me at an advantage over applicants because I have experience with blood and guts so I won't faint in my first day of med school, etc. I don't want to make it sound like I had some rare special opportunity if turns out most others have had the same amount of exposure that I've had.

I TA'd an anatomy lab with human cadavers, the TA's did the dissecting. I put it in my AMCAS as an EC/teaching experience, and it never came up in interviews.

Take that as you will...

 

[breakend]

I TA'd an anatomy lab with human cadavers, the TA's did the dissecting. I put it in my AMCAS as an EC/teaching experience, and it never came up in interviews.

Take that as you will...

Definitely good to know, thanks for the heads up.

 

[MrLogan13]

My community college had a cadaver lab. I dissected and TAed for the dissection class for four semesters. But I don't think it's common for undergrad institutions to use cadavers.

 

[Kochanie]

That's so cool, I'm jealous. We don't have a cadaver lab in my undergrad, but I did visit the med school one and it was really creepy (the room/building).

 

[MrLogan13]

I'm currently a grad student working on an MS in anatomy, and I took gross with first year med students. My CC dissection class prepared me very well for med school gross, so if your undergrad has such a class and you're inclined, I think it'd be a great experience.

 

[Shinobiz11]

Also had a cadaver lab course. Though its through UMich, so not a real surprise. We actually had fall and winter 400-level anatomy courses that uses cadavers, which shared with the DPT program. And yes, they are creepy

 

[The Milkman]

My undergrad had two different cadaver labs... the first one I took was using prosected cadavers and in the second one we started from scratch and dissected 'fresh' cadavers - four students per body. Our dissections ended up getting used in the lower level lab and also the lab for the PA/PT program. There was also class where we could go to the local med school to dissect for them if we had experience. Seems like I was pretty lucky at my school!