Preparing for Anatomy Lab

[nescobar]

Does anyone have advice on how to approach and prepare for Anatomy Lab? My classes start Monday and I'm terribly nervous about this. I feel as though I'm not confident and great with my hands.

Our Anatomy lab director during Orientation was saying to not get overwhelmed with resources, but I want to know how I can prepare and be confident to take on this beast that is anatomy lab!

Any info is appreciated, thanks!

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[trs88]

It's not that bad really. Depending on how well the labs ventilation is, you could be hit with a smell or not. Never wear any clothes you like underneath your scrubs because the smell will permeate and you wont be able to get it out. Whatever books you bring into lab, will become gross. No matter how anal retentive you are about no one touching your books with unwashed hands, someone will come along and touch your books with unwashed hands.

You don't need the best hand eye coordination. Just follow the instructions you're given and you'll do good. If you are nervous about cutting something that you shouldn't, let another person in your group go first and just watch how they handle things. Change out your scalpel blades regularly as dull blades wont cut as easily and could lead to an increased risk of injury.

If you at any time feel lightheaded or woozy, let your group know you need a minute, excuse yourself and take a quick breather in the hallway.

 

[nescobar]

It's not that bad really. Depending on how well the labs ventilation is, you could be hit with a smell or not. Never wear any clothes you like underneath your scrubs because the smell will permeate and you wont be able to get it out. Whatever books you bring into lab, will become gross. No matter how anal retentive you are about no one touching your books with unwashed hands, someone will come along and touch your books with unwashed hands.

You don't need the best hand eye coordination. Just follow the instructions you're given and you'll do good. If you are nervous about cutting something that you shouldn't, let another person in your group go first and just watch how they handle things. Change out your scalpel blades regularly as dull blades wont cut as easily and could lead to an increased risk of injury.

If you at any time feel lightheaded or woozy, let your group know you need a minute, excuse yourself and take a quick breather in the hallway.

Thanks. I'm not worried about the smell or anything, but just being confident with the scalpel and making the right cuts. I worked with cadavers in research and just had a tough time identifying small structures. I just suck at hand-eye coordination and don't have confidence when using my hands. I'm hoping this changes and would like to know any tips from students that are confident in anatomy lab with cutting and identifying.

 

[The Dayman]

For lab I would suggest getting very comfortable with Netter's. I found other resources to be unnecessary.

 

[austintr]

How precise or "technically sound" you need to be all depends on how your labs are graded. For example, our professor is very realistic about things. He knows there are quite a few structures we won't see because of their size and location relative to larger, more important structures. He's done it for so long he realizes that you can't take 5 students that have (almost) universally never touched a cadaver before and expect them to know how to intricately preserve difficult structures. But you may have a super strict borderline anal professor that expects everything to be perfectly done. Only you will know which you have, and unfortunately it will take some experience to find that out. All in all, just keep up with the reading and prelabs if you have them and make sure you're ready for practicals by paying attention and being proactive in lab. Oh, and go to open lab times if at all possible. And look at other groups' cadavers if possible. You'll be good.

 

[getfat]

Sadly for your first lab the only prep you can maybe do is. Review the anatomy of the region you are inspecting and maybe youtube/look up with the structures look like on netters, Rohans, Gilroy, etc. Reviewing the procedure might be lowyield because faculty may make a change to what your dissector, instruction packet says.

Atleast for my school, it didn't matter because you were going to be there a long time. You are working with other students (who prepared just as hard) who don't know what they are doing either.

Just make sure you aren't tired or hungry before you start.

 

[12glaucoma34]

Does anyone have advice on how to approach and prepare for Anatomy Lab? My classes start Monday and I'm terribly nervous about this. I feel as though I'm not confident and great with my hands.

Our Anatomy lab director during Orientation was saying to not get overwhelmed with resources, but I want to know how I can prepare and be confident to take on this beast that is anatomy lab!

Any info is appreciated, thanks!

The best way to prepare for each lab is to review the dissector so you know what the h e double hockey sticks you are supposed to identify and learn. All tissue has a different texture, don't spend forever cutting away 1 mm of fat at a time. Keep scraping until you get to muscle. Don't be timid, be aggressive so you don't spend forever in the first lab. You're not going to accidentally cut through muscle or bone.

I never EVER used Netters, although the images are great. Use a browser image search function, that was all I ever used.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

Does anyone have advice on how to approach and prepare for Anatomy Lab? My classes start Monday and I'm terribly nervous about this. I feel as though I'm not confident and great with my hands.

Our Anatomy lab director during Orientation was saying to not get overwhelmed with resources, but I want to know how I can prepare and be confident to take on this beast that is anatomy lab!

Any info is appreciated, thanks!

Step 1: Get scrubs you really don't like, wear only them during lab, (don't add any other clothes they will be ruined). You burn them when you are done with the semester.
Step 2: Find an surgery gunner, compliment them incessantly and ask them to show you structures/ how to use the knife, then have the fellow check what they did.
Step 3: When you must cut, do it small and take your time, especially if people are watching. Ask for help if you need it.


Important side notes: Please wash your scrubs, your group mates may be nice and not say as much, but we totally know whose the one who isn't washing their scrubs. You will not surprise us at the end of the semester with your revelation that "I haven't washed my scrubs ever and nobody noticed!" Yes we did, and you are now officially off the list of people I would ride in a car with.

 

[vplusat]

Protip- Double glove if you don't want to gag during dinner.