How gross is gross anatomy???

[Dr.Chloe]

Just wondering how bad Gross Anatomy really was? I can watch all of the medical shows on TLC, Discovery Health, etc. and not even flinch but I'm wondering how bad it is when you're actually there. Did any classmates get sick or pass out?

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[Moskeeto]

One of the Gross anatomy teachers at UC Davis is named Gross. I think that should be on their brochure. Here's the link
also, most med students I talk with say that its fine, but theres usually someone in every class that passes out.

 

[zinjanthropus]

everything seems so unreal that you get used to it fairly fast....

the smells can be a bit much, especially come october or november....


plus, it really sucks when someone punctures the colon or rips it open when trying to seperate inflammation - that just gets real messy

sounds are a little much sometime (cutting bone, etc) but not too bad

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

My professor told us he had only had one student pass out in the past number of years and it was just because the student hadn't eaten breakfast that morning. So make sure you eat as much as you can, even though you'll be pretty nervous. And if you need to sit down, grab a chair. There was one girl in my class who got sick, but it was like a respiratory infection. She had to wear a giant mask, but it didn't really help. It sucked to be her, but that was a rare case.

 

[::Seabass::]

have you interviewed yet?

I kind of got to see the whole semester's progression of disection during interview season when we were trooped through the gross lab on all the school tours

 

[Naphtali]

I interviewed at SUNY Buffalo last January. Anatomy was already over, but there were still odds and ends laying about... I was told some MSIV's do an optional course in surgical anatomy in Jan. Also, there was a bag of feet on the floor. "We donate those to a podiatry school," I was told.

Lovely.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

First day I did feel fairly faint but I think most of it was due to the smell.

However, a month later when we got on to opening the thorax I did have to leave the room. This was due to the fact that I had had a thoracotomy 2 weeks before for an operation. There's nothing like watching a procedure being done on a cadaver that was done on you before!

 

[sacrament]

Somebody dropped a severed hand onto my foot one day. It's weird to look down at your feet and see a hand resting there.

 

[....]

 

[juddson]

It is my understanding that the dissection of the preserved cadaver is a bit unussual at first, but everybody seems to get used to it pretty fast.

That said, for those who take an autopsy elective, where the body is fresh, it can be a totally different experience. I've seen preserved dissections on the web and on TV with no trouble. But, even safely at the end of a TV set, I had to turn my head more than once during an autopsy. My guess is that dissection of a fresh head can take your breath away.

judd

 

[woolie]

This might be a dumb question, but why do they call it "gross anatomy"?

 

[Megalofyia]

The term gross doesn't have to do with being disgusting; it has to do with being general and big.
They are using these definitions of gross:[adj] of general aspects or broad distinctions; "the gross details of the structure appear reasonable" and [adj] visible to the naked eye (especially of rocks and anatomical features)

 

[Dr.Chloe]

Gross meaning whole / total according to Webster

Slang meaning is disgust / shock

Both definitions fit perfectly!

SeaworthC - I am still working on my BS in Bio right now so I've got lots of time. I just got thinking about this subject because I watched the movie "Gross Anatomy" couple days ago.

 

[rebaj]

If anyone wants a reading recomendation, related to this topic, check out "Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach. She's a pretty wicked writer, and the book is about exactly what the title says. I just picked it up and started it yesterday; it just came out in hardcover.

Happy reading!

 

[DD214_DOC]

When I spent the day with a med student at my local medical school, I had the chance to spend the entire 2 or 3 hours in GA with him. I had no idea we were going to GA that day, nor did I realize it was halfway through the semester -- after the head and neck stuff.

Needless to say, my first hour was more or less shock. After I became more involved with looking at the anatomy and helping them, your attention is diverted from the fact these all used to be people.

 

[14457]

Originally posted by JKDMed
When I spent the day with a med student at my local medical school, I had the chance to spend the entire 2 or 3 hours in GA with him. I had no idea we were going to GA that day, nor did I realize it was halfway through the semester -- after the head and neck stuff.

Needless to say, my first hour was more or less shock. After I became more involved with looking at the anatomy and helping them, your attention is diverted from the fact these all used to be people.

wow cool

 

[shaqkillz451]

Just wondering how bad Gross Anatomy really was? I can watch all of the medical shows on TLC, Discovery Health, etc. and not even flinch but I'm wondering how bad it is when you're actually there. Did any classmates get sick or pass out?

It depends on the type of person you are. Some people get used to the dead body after a while and don't really care about cutting it up, etc.. some always hate the sight of dead bodies being cut open. I just finished gross anatomy and after the 2nd week, i was fine. I mean, you will get some whiffs of the smell sometimes, but there's really no other option other than just learning to become callous and moving on.

For some of us, it might be the 1st and last time you ever get to look at a body in this manner. Make the best of your opportunity.

 

[Jolie South]

It depends on the type of person you are. Some people get used to the dead body after a while and don't really care about cutting it up, etc.. some always hate the sight of dead bodies being cut open. I just finished gross anatomy and after the 2nd week, i was fine. I mean, you will get some whiffs of the smell sometimes, but there's really no other option other than just learning to become callous and moving on.

For some of us, it might be the 1st and last time you ever get to look at a body in this manner. Make the best of your opportunity.

The person you're responding to is probably a resident by now.

 

[Dissected]

This is by far the oldest resurrection I have ever seen

 

[MedicalSonata]

If anyone wants a reading recomendation, related to this topic, check out "Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach. She's a pretty wicked writer, and the book is about exactly what the title says. I just picked it up and started it yesterday; it just came out in hardcover.

Happy reading!

1st - Wow...oooold thread.
2nd - Mary Roach? Isn't that the name of the crazy woman from the American Idol Auditions.....?

 

[Pedsbro]

The person you're responding to is probably a resident by now.

 

[silverlining1]

Did you wake up and feel like, "Man, I want to answer a question about gross anatomy today" and go and search for the oldest thread possible?

 

[cbrons]

It depends on the type of person you are. Some people get used to the dead body after a while and don't really care about cutting it up, etc.. some always hate the sight of dead bodies being cut open. I just finished gross anatomy and after the 2nd week, i was fine. I mean, you will get some whiffs of the smell sometimes, but there's really no other option other than just learning to become callous and moving on.

For some of us, it might be the 1st and last time you ever get to look at a body in this manner. Make the best of your opportunity.

Damn this is OLD. I bet the OP has already become a cadaver in some med school him/herself