Nervous about Cadavers...

[Un Owen]

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Okay, I know some people will think that I'm being silly (even I think I'm being silly) but I'm nervous about working with cadavers 😳. I'm currently an MS0 but will be an MS1 in a couple weeks. The last time I took a Human Anatomy course was in High School and we did not work with cadavers or anything back then. So when I work on cadavers in med school, it will be for the first time.

I don't usually get grossed out by blood, tissue, smells, etc, but I'm a little bit nervous about working with cadavers. Most people have told me that it's not that bad, but still...

Anyone else in the same boat? How do people feel about this? I would love to hear the first-time reactions that people have had.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Probably the worst thing for me was the smell of formalin (formaldehyde). You really can't smell the body per se, just all the preservatives which can be pretty gross up-close.

I wasn't disturbed by the body, though the times where I was taken aback was during the initial skinning and when we would saw the skull in half. Otherwise, the body with exposed muscle ends up becoming routine after the first day.

 

[dutchman]

Probably the worst thing for me was the smell of formalin (formaldehyde). You really can't smell the body per se, just all the preservatives which can be pretty gross up-close.

I wasn't disturbed by the body, though the times where I was taken aback was during the initial skinning and when we would saw the skull in half. Otherwise, the body with exposed muscle ends up becoming routine after the first day.

I am sure if she was not scared, she is now.

 

[sweet2th]

go onto Google Video and search for autopsy. I watched a 30 min educational autopsy and got a good idea of what it would be like to see some strange sights. I have seem cadavers but never the insides.

 

[nabs86]

I dissected a cadaver in undergrad and I was nervous too. The cadavers hardly even look human, which makes it easier to dissect them. Every now and again something might freak you out (like all the skin sliding off the finger in a chunk...ew) but then you just take a deep breath and move on. After the first couple of days, you just get used to it even if you think you never will.

 

[lord_jeebus]

The only times I felt weird at all were during the first incision and when we worked on the face.

Overall I think it was easier for everyone than we expected.

 

[trainride]

We had anatomy lab (with cadavers) before lunch bc of scheduling bungle. Nothing like taking a bite of a turkey sandwich with the smell of cadaver juice on your hands. No matter how many layers of gloves or scrubs you will constantly smell like a cadaver for the whole semester.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Yeah we had it before lunch. There is something about the formalin that acts to make your apetite huge. So I was ready to eat as soon as we let out.

For those who are worried about the smell: Use nitrile gloves w/ Latex gloves on top and in the shower, use swimmers shampoo as your soap.

Oh and make sure to wash your scrubs alone and w/ a touch of bleach to take the smell out.

 

[Old_Mil]

Okay, I know some people will think that I'm being silly (even I think I'm being silly) but I'm nervous about working cadavers 😳. I'm currently an MS0 but will be an MS1 in a couple weeks. The last time I took a Human Anatomy course was in High School and we did not work with cadavers or anything back then. So when I work on cadavers in med school, it will be for the first time.

I don't usually get grossed out by blood, tissue, smells, etc, but I'm a little bit nervous about working on cadavers. Most people have told me that it's not that bad, but still...

Anyone else in the same boat? How do people feel about this? I would love to hear the first-time reactions that people have had.

The first day, when they opened the body bags and "the smell" permeated the room, everyone turned a little green. As the semester went on, people got used to it. I had to step out for 10 minutes or so when they started using the electric saws to go through bone...the smell was a bit much.

I'd advise going on an empty stomach.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Yeah we had it before lunch. There is something about the formalin that acts to make your apetite huge. So I was ready to eat as soon as we let out.

For those who are worried about the smell: Use nitrile gloves w/ Latex gloves on top and in the shower, use swimmers shampoo as your soap.

Oh and make sure to wash your scrubs alone and w/ a touch of bleach to take the smell out.

Perfect advice! 👍👍👍

 

[USCguy]

I'm not too worried about actually working with the cadavers, I"m more worrried about not being able to sleep because I'm dreaming about them. Did anyone else have this problem? How did you get past it?

I usually dream about anything that I spend a lot of time thinking about/doing during a given day, except in the dream I'm always late or making a mistake. I just know I'm gonna dream about knocking the cadaver off the table or something every night

 

[owlet]

I'm not too worried about actually working with the cadavers, I"m more worrried about not being able to sleep because I'm dreaming about them. Did anyone else have this problem? How did you get past it?

I usually dream about anything that I spend a lot of time thinking about/doing during a given day, except in the dream I'm always late or making a mistake. I just know I'm gonna dream about knocking the cadaver off the table or something every night

I've started dreaming about them already LOL. My anxiety dreams about starting medschool have all these cadaver parts all over the school and I keep searching for my lecture hall in some kind of maze near the anatomy lab and just when I think I've found where I'm supposed to be, there's just another cadaver part...

Who me? Nervous about cadavers? Never!🙂

 

[vhawk]

Its really not that big of a deal. The actual WORK is the worst part, since it can take a really long time to skin them, find all the structures, especially if you are trying to do a good job and find everything. There is a lot of leeway for laziness in gross lab. I think you will find that the face is a little disturbing, especially the eyes and when you bisect the skull, but overall its not so bad. Hopefully you start on the back or upper limb, because that doesn't seem human or like a real person or anything, and its relatively simple.

As others have said, the smell is the worst part. But I really enjoyed anatomy lab, and missed it when it was over. It was a really fun, social atmosphere at my school. I'm a little sad we don't do anything like that second year, but I think I'm going to TA the M1 anatomy lab, so I will get to do it again. You can learn some useful skills as well.

 

[busthwt]

don't sweat it you'll get used to it. give it about a couple of weeks and it'll be second nature to you. you will even get hungry while in lab which was always the case for me.

 

[Abilene85]

It's normal to be a little nervous. In undergrad, my anatomy lab had cadavers that med students dissected for us. My first time in the lab, I was a little nervous - I imagined that the prof would unzip the bag and slowly introduce us to the body. I walked in and the first thing I saw was a body being used by health science students, opened up with the heart and lungs sitting on the thighs. I just thought, "Okay, whatever it's not so scary."

There are still moments that will be a little awkward. I don't know how I will feel with my first cut into the flesh or the first time I have to pick up a body to turn it over. With my cadaver, I found the hands and face brought me back to reality and reminded me that the body was once a living person. And since we had 24/7 access to the lab, it was a little eerie the first time a classmate and I met to study in the lab in the evening and were the only 2 living people in a room with a lot more bodies. You will have those experiences, get over it, and get back to work. I think working with cadavers is overall a very cool experience, because few people in this world get to know someone on such an intimate level.

Just be cool and you'll be fine. Oh, and please please do not make fun of the cadavers that were donated so you could learn from them. 😡 I worry what the girls who laughed at the "fat and hairy guy" will do when they encounter a living fat and hairy patient.

 

[cfdavid]

The only times I felt weird at all were during the first incision and when we worked on the face.

Overall I think it was easier for everyone than we expected.

I agree. We have a very large class, and I'm not aware of anyone really having a problem, let alone puking or anything.

 

[nabs86]

I'm not too worried about actually working with the cadavers, I"m more worrried about not being able to sleep because I'm dreaming about them. Did anyone else have this problem? How did you get past it?

I usually dream about anything that I spend a lot of time thinking about/doing during a given day, except in the dream I'm always late or making a mistake. I just know I'm gonna dream about knocking the cadaver off the table or something every night

Yup I had dreams about my cadaver. He was up and walking around like a normal person (but dissected) and it wasn't scary at all. I didn't have nightmares or anything like that. I only dreamt about him once or twice, and it stopped completely when I was done with anatomy.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

My school used the systemic desensitization approach. You start off with something like the arm and leg that isn't as scary, then you're ready to crack the chest open and do internal organs. Once you've mastered that, you're ready for anything and stuff you dreaded before earlier in the ear (dissecting the genitals, skinning someone's face) seems mundane.

 

[relema]

I remember being really scared because i had never ever disected anything but a squid. It was not that bad and i was not grossed out, in fact i usually got quite hungry in lab and my tank mates and i would talk about dinner. you will be suprised how sureal it all seems. Double glove and if you can wear a crappy lab coat over your scrubs and this will go a long way from keeping you from getting smelly and keeping fat from getting all over your scrubs.

 

[Tiger26]

you probably should be a little nervous before you start, otherwise people might wonder about you . . .


Anyways, I started swimming after anatomy to get rid of the smell--very relaxing

 

[megadon]

This was the thing I was the most uneasy about also. However, you get so hyped up for gross anatomy, and after reading the first chapter or so of Grey's, you're like, I want to see that! I still had plenty of moments during Gross (like realizing you were going to cut the dude's leg off tomorrow, or split his head in two) where I was thinking, this is just wrong. My friend who wants to be an orthopod (and was ex-SEAL, I was ex-submarines) did not share these feelings. I don't know if it was the SEAL part or the surgein part. I'm guessing the orthopod, cause they all acted the same. I will say this, we had 150 people, no one that I know of had a problem.

 

[stiffany]

I just wanted to say "Thanks" to the OP for starting this thread. In high school, I had the chance to go hang out in a local med school's cadaver lab for a few hours where we looked at organs out of the body and a few limbs. However, I have yet to see a dead person "intact" and am also getting a bit nervous about anatomy lab! I don't think this fear is necessarily silly since it's not like dissecting anything much less a human being is a typical life experience. Still, I'd like to get over my fear of queasiness before classes start in a few weeks. Keep the advice/experiences coming!!! 😳

 

[menaniac]

Okay, I know some people will think that I'm being silly (even I think I'm being silly) but I'm nervous about working cadavers 😳. I'm currently an MS0 but will be an MS1 in a couple weeks. The last time I took a Human Anatomy course was in High School and we did not work with cadavers or anything back then. So when I work on cadavers in med school, it will be for the first time.

I don't usually get grossed out by blood, tissue, smells, etc, but I'm a little bit nervous about working on cadavers. Most people have told me that it's not that bad, but still...

Anyone else in the same boat? How do people feel about this? I would love to hear the first-time reactions that people have had.

I think a lot of people have trepidation about the cadaver dissection. I am reading a book right now called "Body of Work" by Christine Montross, written when she was an MS4 about her experiences as an MS1 while taking gross anatomy. It highlights the different reactions of people to the experience, talks about the history of human dissection in medicine, as well as the reasons behind using the dissection as a teaching tool for new doctors in both a practical and psychological way. Its a quick read, and a very good book. I highly recommend it.

I'm now starting to think about the wide variety of reactions my classmates and I will have to this experience. Its a cool book.

 

[PreMD86]

go onto Google Video and search for autopsy. I watched a 30 min educational autopsy and got a good idea of what it would be like to see some strange sights. I have seem cadavers but never the insides.

Could you send me the link, please?
When I searched, all I found were videos of some fake alien autopsy and death metal bands.

Thanks.

 

[Vano]

Could you send me the link, please?
When I searched, all I found were videos of some fake alien autopsy and death metal bands.

Thanks.

There are plenty of sites for MS0 to peruse, just go on google and type in 'anatomy dissection' or smth similar. Here is U of Utah images http://umed.med.utah.edu/MS1/anatomy/Web_View/
or Uof Wisc. presents videos of all the major dissections http://www.anatomy.wisc.edu/courses/gross/index.html
I'm sure many schools have resourses like that up online for students to look at.

 

[soonerfan77]

Here's a story for ya',

I attended a health sciences academy during high school, which happened to include a mock clinical anatomy course with cadaver lab. Of course, we didn't have any tests, but we did get to dissect, if you want to call it that, a cadaver.
Having been the first lifeless corpse I had ever seen, my initial reaction was an awkward awe. My unfamiliarity, though, quickly evaporated as we were given the go ahead to cut away. Several weeks into the dissection, everyone in my group became much more comfortable with the situation. One girl was more preoccupied with braiding the cadavers hair, until we cut it all off in order to remove the top of the skull. She then took the liberty to craft a calf-muscle-toupee for our now bald corpse. I was working with chisel and wooden mallet to remove the top of the skull, when she decides that the only way the "toupee" is going to stay on is if she whaps it with a mallet. Well, she picks the one time that I had my mouth slightly open and my tongue hanging out(you know kinda like Michael Jordan used to do when he was concentrating really hard). Before I knew it, I had a brain/hair/calf muscle/bone/formaldehyde cocktail forcibly injected into my mouth. I washed my mouth out with soap for about ten minutes after that.

Moral of the story: cover your mouth when you work on your cadaver, and it did not taste like chicken.
😎

 

[PreMD86]

Here's a story for ya',

I attended a health sciences academy during high school, which happened to include a mock clinical anatomy course with cadaver lab. Of course, we didn't have any tests, but we did get to dissect, if you want to call it that, a cadaver.
Having been the first lifeless corpse I had ever seen, my initial reaction was an awkward awe. My unfamiliarity, though, quickly evaporated as we were given the go ahead to cut away. Several weeks into the dissection, everyone in my group became much more comfortable with the situation. One girl was more preoccupied with braiding the cadavers hair, until we cut it all off in order to remove the top of the skull. She then took the liberty to craft a calf-muscle-toupee for our now bald corpse. I was working with chisel and wooden mallet to remove the top of the skull, when she decides that the only way the "toupee" is going to stay on is if she whaps it with a mallet. Well, she picks the one time that I had my mouth slightly open and my tongue hanging out(you know kinda like Michael Jordan used to do when he was concentrating really hard). Before I knew it, I had a brain/hair/calf muscle/bone/formaldehyde cocktail forcibly injected into my mouth. I washed my mouth out with soap for about ten minutes after that.

Moral of the story: cover your mouth when you work on your cadaver, and it did not taste like chicken.
😎

It's probably the hypochondriac in me speaking, but I would be worried about that cadaver dying from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. I recall stories of gloveless cadaver dissections resulting in transmission of prions through one's skin, since some prions easily survive the embalming process.

Real Moral- Always wear protection 👍

 

[despair]

I'm nervous about dissection too! I wonder how they'll feel like under my fingertips, how they'll smell, how I'll feel. Damn! I'm nervous as hell. Especially when it comes to the face part. there's something about tearing apart someone's face that gets to me..

 

[happysquirrel]

go onto Google Video and search for autopsy. I watched a 30 min educational autopsy and got a good idea of what it would be like to see some strange sights. I have seem cadavers but never the insides.

I just watched the video. I am a little nervous too about dissecting, but getting a trial run with the video helped. Just try not to think of the cadaver as a person, but simply as a body...that might help your jitters.

Good luck🙂

 

[happysquirrel]

Here's a story for ya',

I attended a health sciences academy during high school, which happened to include a mock clinical anatomy course with cadaver lab. Of course, we didn't have any tests, but we did get to dissect, if you want to call it that, a cadaver.
Having been the first lifeless corpse I had ever seen, my initial reaction was an awkward awe. My unfamiliarity, though, quickly evaporated as we were given the go ahead to cut away. Several weeks into the dissection, everyone in my group became much more comfortable with the situation. One girl was more preoccupied with braiding the cadavers hair, until we cut it all off in order to remove the top of the skull. She then took the liberty to craft a calf-muscle-toupee for our now bald corpse. I was working with chisel and wooden mallet to remove the top of the skull, when she decides that the only way the "toupee" is going to stay on is if she whaps it with a mallet. Well, she picks the one time that I had my mouth slightly open and my tongue hanging out(you know kinda like Michael Jordan used to do when he was concentrating really hard). Before I knew it, I had a brain/hair/calf muscle/bone/formaldehyde cocktail forcibly injected into my mouth. I washed my mouth out with soap for about ten minutes after that.

Moral of the story: cover your mouth when you work on your cadaver, and it did not taste like chicken.
😎

Wow...what an incredibly disrespectful way to treat a cadaver. Was no one supervising you guys?

 

[TopDocChick]

Recently my brother died horribly and I saw pictures of his leg splattered across a street. It was (and is) traumatizing. I never thought I would have a problem with cadavers but now that my own brother died in such a terrible way I am afraid the cadaver will bring back memories. Has anyone been through a similar experience? How did you handle it? I am sure that I will get used to it but I wonder if the first time will be much harder for me.

 

[owlet]

Recently my brother died horribly and I saw pictures of his leg splattered across a street. It was (and is) traumatizing. I never thought I would have a problem with cadavers but now that my own brother died in such a terrible way I am afraid the cadaver will bring back memories. Has anyone been through a similar experience? How did you handle it? I am sure that I will get used to it but I wonder if the first time will be much harder for me.

I am so sorry for your loss. I have not had an experience like this, but my father is terminally ill and I keep having a waking nightmare that he'll die before I start anatomy and I'll have to dissect him. I'm worried that being so close to death in the form of the cadavers will remind me of his imminent death and leave me unable to dissect.

 

[sweet2th]

I just watched the video. I am a little nervous too about dissecting, but getting a trial run with the video helped. Just try not to think of the cadaver as a person, but simply as a body...that might help your jitters.

Good luck🙂

weird. now i cant find the video...it was months ago that i saw it. it was an autopsy of a young, really thin woman with breast implants. is this what you saw too?

 

[Katya00]

Recently my brother died horribly and I saw pictures of his leg splattered across a street. It was (and is) traumatizing. I never thought I would have a problem with cadavers but now that my own brother died in such a terrible way I am afraid the cadaver will bring back memories. Has anyone been through a similar experience? How did you handle it? I am sure that I will get used to it but I wonder if the first time will be much harder for me.

I lost my Mom last November and all I can think is that the only two dead people I will have ever seen are the cadaver and my Mom. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it...I think it's going to be very hard, very emotional and very depressing at times. 🙁 sigh

 

[megadon]

I lost my Mom last November and all I can think is that the only two dead people I will have ever seen are the cadaver and my Mom. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it...I think it's going to be very hard, very emotional and very depressing at times. 🙁 sigh

There are times that it is, like I said, I spent many a moment thinking we're going to do this to a human? That's what Al-Qaeda does! You would be amazed at your ability for the most part to become very detached and more focused on what you need to be learning. However, I think it speaks loads to your humanity to be able to take a step back every now and then and feel bad about what your doing. I personally am not donating my body to science, but then again I have some religious beliefs about this shell I've been living in. I'm not against cremation or anything, but I still feel I defiled someone, but take comfort that they had a little idea of what they were signing up for and they were okay with it. I'm also thankful they did.

Now, the cool thing is what you will see. Our guy died of heart failure. However, he had rampant cancer. His pancreas shattered when we dealt with it because it was so fibroid. The body deals with cancer in a lot of places by trying to wall it off, so it was like someone poured superglue into the abdominal cavity. We spent two hours stripping the aorta of connective tissue. There also a lot of frustrations, there were only about two wombs in our entire class, everyone else had had a hysterectomy.

I'm sorry that you lost your mom, it will probably make it more difficult. I lost my sister, but all I ever saw were the ashes. I'm sure that your group will be very understanding, but once again, a year from now, you will be amazed (and maybe a little horrified) at how well you were able to be detached about performing dissections.

 

[Nomemory]

or Uof Wisc. presents videos of all the major dissections http://www.anatomy.wisc.edu/courses/gross/index.html
I'm sure many schools have resourses like that up online for students to look at.

Please, tell me that guy had invisible gloves on. 😱

 

[def jeff]

I have an uncle (physical therapist and much older) who told me the very first day of his anatomy class the professor walked about the room and systematically cut the heads off of all of the students' cadavers. Apparently a couple of kids dropped out on the spot.

I thought that was kind of intense.

 

[Hayden2102]

I had my first cadaver viewing today, with dissection starting in groups tomorrow.

There is a lot of hype, and for the most part the event doesn't live up to it. It was not as confronting as I thought it was.

One girl did get upset because one of the cadavers reminded her of her mother, but she's fine, she just needed to sit down for a while and process it.

 

[-Goose-]

Double glove and if you can wear a crappy lab coat over your scrubs and this will go a long way from keeping you from getting smelly and keeping fat from getting all over your scrubs.

This is key. Wear two sets of gloves (purple nitrile ones are the best) and pull them over the edge of a labcoat that has cuffs.

like this one: http://images.google.com/imgres?img...=lab+coat+with+cuffs&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&sa=X
(but please find a used, nasty one)


This will insure that you are not soaked to the bone in formaldehyde.

 

[CCLCMer]

Okay, I know some people will think that I'm being silly (even I think I'm being silly) but I'm nervous about working with cadavers 😳. I'm currently an MS0 but will be an MS1 in a couple weeks. The last time I took a Human Anatomy course was in High School and we did not work with cadavers or anything back then. So when I work on cadavers in med school, it will be for the first time.

I don't usually get grossed out by blood, tissue, smells, etc, but I'm a little bit nervous about working with cadavers. Most people have told me that it's not that bad, but still...

Anyone else in the same boat? How do people feel about this? I would love to hear the first-time reactions that people have had.

You will get used to it like everyone else said. At my school we use fresh cadavers and it can be pretty bloody and stinky. At the beginning, it made me feel kind of nauseated sometimes, but after a while it doesn't bother you as much anymore. Just don't be a hero. If you're feeling queasy, go sit down out in the hall for a few minutes. It's not a big deal.

 

[-Goose-]

If anyone is really anticipated issues with anatomy lab, read Final Exam by Pauline Chen.

 

[AggieJohn]

When I took anatomy in undergrad, we dissected cats. I've never looked at my cat the same way. I always think about the underlying muscles, glands on the side of the skull when I am petting it, or the internal organs.

How is this going to translate when I dissect a human cadaver? This may sound silly, but am I going to start thinking about all the internal goings-on of my wife? Every time i have a bowel movement, am I going to think about all of the coordinated actions that are producing it? I just hope, once i lose my ignorance of the human body, that I can still stand to be inside one.

 

[yalla22]

Any suggestions on how to prevent the smell of formaldehyde from sticking?

 

[sirus_virus]

Recently my brother died horribly and I saw pictures of his leg splattered across a street. It was (and is) traumatizing. I never thought I would have a problem with cadavers but now that my own brother died in such a terrible way I am afraid the cadaver will bring back memories. Has anyone been through a similar experience? How did you handle it? I am sure that I will get used to it but I wonder if the first time will be much harder for me.

Dude, sorry about that. I think you need to talk to someone in your school, and see if they can aid you with some counseling. My inexperienced opinion says you will be fine, just relax. Katya00, sorry to hear about your mom. Good luck.

 

[megadon]

I should add that our bodies faces were covered up until third block when we did head and neck. That helped a lot.

 

[makeitstop]

I was TERRIFIED before our first cadaver lab. I'd never seen a dead person. I'd been to one funeral when I was about 8 and it was closed-casket. To make matters worse, everyone in my lab tank seemed totally chill about the entire thing - not at all freaked out. I am also ridiculously squeamish. Months after anatomy lab we visited a dialysis clinic while we were studying kidneys -- even after seeing so many cadavers, all the blood made we want to pass out. I left early.

Bearing all that in mind, hear this: When we first uncovered our cadaver, I felt nauseated and panicked for about a minute and a half. Then we started cutting, and I was totally fine. We didn't do the head until later in the semester, and right before that, I got a little nervous again. But again, it was weird seeing the face for about a minute, and then it was just work. It really is healthy to remind yourself every now and again that this was a real person, and be thankful for their donation. It is shocking how easy it is to detach yourself.

Double gloving is good, but a good soap is better. The class above us recommended Lava Soap (comes in a red package), but I prefer GOJO (orange package). Both of these can be found at Walmart, and both contain pumice to scrub off that nassssty smell.

Also, avoid getting your face too class to your work. When I was trying to peel back some fascia with a huber probe, I had my face really close so I could see better, and I DEFINITELY flung fascia up my nose. Try to get THAT smell out.

 

[rhornblower]

I was scared too -- when I first saw my cadaver I didn't think I was able to cut into it. You just have to take a deep breath (through the mouth, not the nose) and make the first cut. Once you've done that, you'll be comfortable with it by the end of the session. The only things that I really didn't feel I could deal with were the eyes and sawing through the head. It sounds horrible, but it's easy to forget that it's a real person until you uncover the face -- and that's when the really brutal things begin. That being said, I'm a fairly sensitive person and I don't think I've ever had nightmares or anything of that nature about my cadaver, even though if I were to, say, find a mutilated body in a dumpster or wherever, I'd probably never sleep again. It's just a different sphere. If someone close to you has died recently, maybe you could ask the course coordinator or whoever's in charge to make sure you don't have a cadaver that's the same gender/age as that loved one so you don't take the chance of being reminded?
As for smell, double gloving is a must. Keep your skin as moisturized as possible. Some girls in my class wore bandannas over their hair, and put a dryer sheet between the hair and bandanna to keep the hair from absorbing the smell. After a few days, you won't even notice the smell (you only smell the formalin -- it's not like the smell of rotting meat or anything), but the people around you will. Thus, the time between anatomy lab and showering is perfect for riding public transport, going to stand in line for an iPhone, and for any other situation where you'd like an expanded bubble of personal space 😉 (not really. don't do that. not cool). It'll be fine. You'll come to enjoy it.

 

[rich1234]

I was scared too -- when I first saw my cadaver I didn't think I was able to cut into it. You just have to take a deep breath (through the mouth, not the nose) and make the first cut. Once you've done that, you'll be comfortable with it by the end of the session. The only things that I really didn't feel I could deal with were the eyes and sawing through the head. It sounds horrible, but it's easy to forget that it's a real person until you uncover the face -- and that's when the really brutal things begin. That being said, I'm a fairly sensitive person and I don't think I've ever had nightmares or anything of that nature about my cadaver, even though if I were to, say, find a mutilated body in a dumpster or wherever, I'd probably never sleep again. It's just a different sphere. If someone close to you has died recently, maybe you could ask the course coordinator or whoever's in charge to make sure you don't have a cadaver that's the same gender/age as that loved one so you don't take the chance of being reminded?
As for smell, double gloving is a must. Keep your skin as moisturized as possible. Some girls in my class wore bandannas over their hair, and put a dryer sheet between the hair and bandanna to keep the hair from absorbing the smell. After a few days, you won't even notice the smell (you only smell the formalin -- it's not like the smell of rotting meat or anything), but the people around you will. Thus, the time between anatomy lab and showering is perfect for riding public transport, going to stand in line for an iPhone, and for any other situation where you'd like an expanded bubble of personal space 😉 (not really. don't do that. not cool). It'll be fine. You'll come to enjoy it.

and when people ask you what you've been doing, you can say that you just skinned someones face off!!!





totally kidding, maybe not appropriate.

 

[yalla22]

if you are the type that is REALLY sensitive to smells of any sort (like you gag if you walk into a kitchen that has an intense smell of anything), is it possible to wear a mask for lab?

 

[rhornblower]

if you are the type that is REALLY sensitive to smells of any sort (like you gag if you walk into a kitchen that has an intense smell of anything), is it possible to wear a mask for lab?

Sure, no one cares. They might make fun of you a little but secretly they'll be jealous. That being said, I don't know if that will do much for the smell, and I wouldn't get like a "SARS mask" N-95 respirator or anything like that because you won't feel like you're getting enough air -- get a loose fitting mask with earloops, or maybe even just tie a handkerchief around your face like a bandit. Keep in mind that any mask will eventually absorb the smell itself so be prepared to wash or replace it very often.
Some people say that coating their nostrils with vaseline really does wonders.