Scared of cadavers....

[Marianne11]

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I'll be starting school in August, and I've seen the anatomy videos, and have Rohen's. I've even been in a lab once.....but I'm scared that when I go to class and actually have to do the cutting & sawing etc., that it will freak me out and I'll panic, cry, or run out of the lab. Did anyone else feel scared before their first lab, and then do fine afterwards? Everyone says my feelings are normal and I'll get used to it, but I'm getting nervous as it gets closer to the start of classes. Help. 🙂

 

[DRealDrZ]

I didn't, but had 2 friends that did. They got over it and were able to get in there and did quite a bit of work. It really isn't as bad as it seems...you get used to everything in the lab.

 

[funkless]

There is a new company out that actually sells cadavers to incoming medical students, so that they can keep them in their home/garage and get adjusted to them before they start school. I was going to get one, but I couldn't cough up the $3995.00. Plus, they make you fill out 12 pages of documentation to make sure you're not just some perv.

Here's a link to their website...

--Funkless

 

[unk_fxn]

there was a girl in my lab team who turned pale green and had to leave 4 times during our first dissection. But by the end of the second week she was pushing me out of the way to cut it up herself because I "wasnt doing it right". So she really got over her fear and it was great because she then did everything herself and I would sleep in if I came to lab at all.

Of course, all this ended when our cadaver became a zombie and ate her.

-unk_fxn

 

[cgt3477]

We didn't begin to see the cadavers until we got to the muscles. I use to be freaked out too but don't worry you get use to it. I got thru the first portion of anatomy (the below the neck down portion of the lab) without having to touch the cadavers since the bodies were already prosected for us. I wasn't able to do that with the head and neck portion since we had to dissect that part. My lab partner had done the same for the first part of lab and was just as scared...we agreed to get our fears and take turns dissecting. The worse of it was at the very beginning when the head was fully intact (besides being cut in half) but once you get started it isn't as bad. The only thing I never got use to was the strong smell...I don't think anyone gets use to it.

 

[Gleevec]

There is a new company out that actually sells cadavers to incoming medical students, so that they can keep them in their home/garage and get adjusted to them before they start school. I was going to get one, but I couldn't cough up the $3995.00. Plus, they make you fill out 12 pages of documentation to make sure you're not just some perv.

Here's a link to their website...

--Funkless

The fact that this company exists scares the crap outta me 😱

 

[DrBravesgirl]

don't worry. you'll get used to it in a few days, if it even takes that long. i was really freaked out the first day when we took ours out of the plastic bag and had to make the first cuts, but by the second day, it was just fine. it's one of those things about med school...you think it'll scare the crap out of you (the amount of studying, taking that first exam, and yes, cutting into a cadaver), but after you do it the first time, it's really no sweat.

 

[Enkindu]

I'll be starting school in August, and I've seen the anatomy videos, and have Rohen's. I've even been in a lab once.....but I'm scared that when I go to class and actually have to do the cutting & sawing etc., that it will freak me out and I'll panic, cry, or run out of the lab. Did anyone else feel scared before their first lab, and then do fine afterwards? Everyone says my feelings are normal and I'll get used to it, but I'm getting nervous as it gets closer to the start of classes. Help. 🙂

Almost everyone feels a little bit like you're feeling (even the ones that don't admit it). It helps to remember you're all going through the same thing. It is a little hard, and it will change you permanently.. but it's all part of the big, gruesome, glorious experience of med school. I am amazed looking back at this year how desensitized we all were during the experience.. soon enough you will be much more concerned with more important issues like how to regurgitate 5,000 new nonsense word every week...

The real thing to fear is the funk that will be attached to you when you leave the gross lab.... go straight home, throw all your clothes in a hot washing machine, and get directly into the shower. Don't sit on your new couch like I did....

 

[sickofit]

there was a girl in my lab team who turned pale green and had to leave 4 times during our first dissection. But by the end of the second week she was pushing me out of the way to cut it up herself because I "wasnt doing it right". So she really got over her fear and it was great because she then did everything herself and I would sleep in if I came to lab at all.

Of course, all this ended when our cadaver became a zombie and ate her.

-unk_fxn

one of the funniest things i've ever read on SDN. thank you.

 

[MEG@COOL]

Just imagine that your cadaver is sitting in its underpants.

 

[funkless]

The fact that this company exists scares the crap outta me 😱

Yeah, they're a subsidiary of Philip Morris, Inc. Surprised you haven't seen their ads. They're sponsoring the NBA Championship this year, and a Macy's Day Thanksgiving float (just picture what THAT will be like). Don't touch that dial.

--Funkless

 

[Marianne11]

Thanks for your replies! I feel better now. I have another question. I keep hearing about the smell issue and how it stays with you after lab. Even if you take a shower etc., do you STILL smell it? What do your sexual partners think? Does it disgust them?? I can't imagine someone kissing me and smelling that, let alone during sex.

 

[Marianne11]

There is a new company out that actually sells cadavers to incoming medical students, so that they can keep them in their home/garage and get adjusted to them before they start school. I was going to get one, but I couldn't cough up the $3995.00. Plus, they make you fill out 12 pages of documentation to make sure you're not just some perv.

Here's a link to their website...

--Funkless

I think that is one of the funniest replies I've read on SDN.

 

[gravy4thebrain]

In her book, The Scalpel and the Silver Bear, Lori Arviso Alvord describes overcoming a cultural inhibition of touching the dead (she is Navajo). This problem confronted her when she had to dissect a cadaver. I recommend reading this book, it could be an inspiration for you.

 

[Kluver Bucy]

You also may want to read First Cut, by an English prof at Emory who takes Gross Anatomy and records his observations.

I was sick to my stomach the entire morning of Gross Anatomy. I was looking around the lab lecture hall looking at everyone taking in the lecture so calmly and with such interest, and all I could think of was that I'd be cutting into a dead person. I can't explain it, but after an hour, it's just like you're cutting up a chicken.

You may want to prepare your SO by wearing very bad cologne. That way Eau D'Formaldehyde will be an improvement.

Kluver

 

[badgergirl]

i don't know about anyone else, but for the first few weeks of anatomy i was plagued by dreams of clearing fat. 🙁

our cadaver started out on his stomach, so the day we turned him over was weird for me, seeing his face. once you start removing organs and cracking open the head it just starts feeling wrong. to cheer up one evening, though, my friends and i watched the movie Gross Anatomy (it has the fakest looking cadavers ever, but it's still kinda true to med school life). you'll get through it. keep some body spray or scented lotion around to at least mask some of the smell after you leave lab.

 

[curlycity]

You may want to prepare your SO by wearing very bad cologne. That way Eau D'Formaldehyde will be an improvement.

Kluver

*cracking up*

GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[merlin17]

It is absolutely normal to be nervous about your first anatomy labs. It is positively an unnatural thing to be doing and gross anatomy for most medical schools is a profoundly emotional experience. I think my school did a good job preparing us for the emotions we might feel but still throwing us into the lab during the first week. The first session we had was optional and it involved second years talking about their experiences with anatomy and then taking us up to the lab for the first time and opening the body bags. Nothing else was done at this point. We talked about how we keep the head covered until we begin that part of the dissection and how we tend to keep the body covered below the waist out of respect for the bodies.
Our first lab was very superficial. We located the bony landmarks on a skeleon and then through the skin of our cadaver. This was the first time we really touched the bodies and we got used to that part. On that day I think all we did was remove the skin from the chest and maybe observe pec major and pec minor. So lab one was very superficial and really served to let students get used to the anatomy lab. Each subsequent lab for the first week or two allowed us to enter a little deeper into the body.

There were times during anatomy that people felt ill. There were times when we found something particularly horrible in a cadaver's body and realized how much pain that illness must have caused them and we cried together.

Whether or not you ever feel truly comfortable dissecting is not the issue. You will be a wonderful doctor whether you love anatomy or not. I hope, however, that by the end you have gained a sense of what an amazing priviledge gross anatomy is and a profound appreciation for those who have donated their bodies for us to learn from! Good luck in medical school!

 

[terpgirl]

Yeah, the smell issue scares me. I don't want to smell like preserved dead body. How bizarre is it that I've already decided if I die and cannot donate my organs for use by the living, I'm donating my body to a med school

When I disected a fetal pig in high school, I was at first insanely grossed out. I said I would hold the pig, and the other girl would cut. Out of 4 of us in the group, one girl ended up sitting it out after seeing the piggy. The first cut was scary... maybe because we didn't know how hard to go, what it would feel like, etc. But after the first cut I was good to go!

The problem I had was the smell of the chemicals. The school has NO windows, and a horrible ventilation system. That smell got to me on the second day, and I was aout to pass out. I started seeing black spots 😱 I left the room, and even had to walk outside for fresh air. Lack of oxygen to the brain 🙁

-Liz

 

[Marianne11]

It is absolutely normal to be nervous about your first anatomy labs. It is positively an unnatural thing to be doing and gross anatomy for most medical schools is a profoundly emotional experience. I think my school did a good job preparing us for the emotions we might feel but still throwing us into the lab during the first week. The first session we had was optional and it involved second years talking about their experiences with anatomy and then taking us up to the lab for the first time and opening the body bags. Nothing else was done at this point. We talked about how we keep the head covered until we begin that part of the dissection and how we tend to keep the body covered below the waist out of respect for the bodies.
Our first lab was very superficial. We located the bony landmarks on a skeleon and then through the skin of our cadaver. This was the first time we really touched the bodies and we got used to that part. On that day I think all we did was remove the skin from the chest and maybe observe pec major and pec minor. So lab one was very superficial and really served to let students get used to the anatomy lab. Each subsequent lab for the first week or two allowed us to enter a little deeper into the body.

There were times during anatomy that people felt ill. There were times when we found something particularly horrible in a cadaver's body and realized how much pain that illness must have caused them and we cried together.

Whether or not you ever feel truly comfortable dissecting is not the issue. You will be a wonderful doctor whether you love anatomy or not. I hope, however, that by the end you have gained a sense of what an amazing priviledge gross anatomy is and a profound appreciation for those who have donated their bodies for us to learn from! Good luck in medical school!

Merlin,

I hope my school goes slowly like this. We start lab I think on the 3rd day, after 2 days of lab orientation. Thank you for your kind words. They helped! I'm getting First Cut and Stiff, so I can get some anxiety relieved this summer. 🙂

 

[madtowngirl]

Go shadow a forensic pathologist or a medical examiner. After seeing some of the grossest corpses the summer before med school, I was completely ready for the cadaver. What's sort of a letdown is that its all practically the same color and texture, versus fresh specimens (gallbladder excepted, ours was like neon green). But anatomy was probably the greatest experience in my med school life so far . . . although I can't wait until those surgery days when I get to hold retractors for hours on end . . . 🙄

 

[Marianne11]

I just read the book "Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers," by Mary Roach. This is a funny book that made me feel more at ease. It is very entertaining & I recommend it for any med student who needs a laugh this summer. I am also reading First Cut. That has scared me a little. 🙂

 

[gschl1234]

There is a new company out that actually sells cadavers to incoming medical students, so that they can keep them in their home/garage and get adjusted to them before they start school. I was going to get one, but I couldn't cough up the $3995.00. Plus, they make you fill out 12 pages of documentation to make sure you're not just some perv.

Here's a link to their website...

--Funkless

If anything that would scare me more...what are you supposed to do when you're "done" with the cadaver?

 

[ericdamiansean]

cadavers aren't that scary you know..that's because they look grey and dried up and they died nicely..you should be more worried when you get a posting in forensics where they bring in these mangled bodies
i still remember my first visit when we were jostling to see who went in the room first, so, we drew lots and this guy went in, and came out in like a second later, face all pale..he said that the guy in there had been slashed..of course..later we found out that he hadn't be slashed..it was just the routine neck cut that the pathologist makes to get to the neck area..
and of course..the times when you get a really rotten body...you can give me a cadaver anytime of the day 🙂

 

[Maple]

Hey Marianne,

Congrats on getting into a great school! (I maybe a bit biased...but who cares?!? 😛 )

Don't worry about anatomy lab too much...I was scared at first too...but the best way to overcome you fear is to grab a tool and get to work! It focuses you and then you don't think about it too much. Also, the first week, we (M2s) will be helping you guys making the "first cut"! 👍 so you won't be by yourself! Besides, the Cell Bio/Anatmomy department is the best!All the profs are super nice and excellent teachers! (Too bad, I can't say the same for BIochem! 😱 )....but you will get through it all!

Good luck!

See you in fall..

 

[Marianne11]

Hey Maple,

That's awesome that you guys will be in there with us! I won't be so scared then. How was your first year? I see your from Cali too. How did you adjust to the weather? I just moved to Brookfield, and it's fine now...but the snow & cold will be a first for me. BTW...any cute guys at school?

Thanks for the reply!

-Marianne

 

[Aaron Earles]

I am worried about my asthma bothering me. I have had some difficulty breathing while in anatomy labs due to the smell.

 

[Amy B]

My family went on a tour of my school a few weeks ago. My daughter informed me after they had gone to the anatomy lab, that I wasn't going to cook for her on days I have lab. She said she doesn't want to eat food I touched on those days. 😱

 

[Marianne11]

I don't want you guys to think I'm paranoid, but after reading "First Cut," I'm scared. I didn't know we have to remove the head of the cadaver and saw it in half. I don't think I can cut off a head let alone saw it in half. We start the head & neck region our second month of school. Was everyone really okay with this after 1 month? I'm not a baby...but this is freaky.

 

[cocoabutter]

I was also kind of nervous about sawing the head at the beginning. But by the time we actually got to it (after 6 weeks), I didn't really care that much. You will be over any fears that you have shortly after you begin, so I wouldn't worry. You will be ready for it.

 

[Mutterkuchen]

I don't want you guys to think I'm paranoid, but after reading "First Cut," I'm scared. I didn't know we have to remove the head of the cadaver and saw it in half. I don't think I can cut off a head let alone saw it in half. We start the head & neck region our second month of school. Was everyone really okay with this after 1 month? I'm not a baby...but this is freaky.

Seriously, by the end of the 1st week, you'll be fine. I did not like anatomy lab at all, but you really do get sensitized to it. It just takes a couple of days.

By the time you get to dissect the head, it won't even look like a real person anyway.

 

[Keberson]

I hear you...that sounds too freaky for me. I don't know If I'll be able to handle it let alone keep myself from vomiting in the process ahhhhh

 

[AlternateSome1]

My family went on a tour of my school a few weeks ago. My daughter informed me after they had gone to the anatomy lab, that I wasn't going to cook for her on days I have lab. She said she doesn't want to eat food I touched on those days. 😱

Hand her the Peanut Butter and Jelly and kick your feet up. 🙂

 

[Pathos]

It normal to be nervous about day 1 in anatomy lab. No one in your med school class has dissected humans before, so no matter how tough everyone looks they will most likely all be queasy on the inside. You will become immune to it after a while. I was awkward when I our group started dissection b/c I was waiting for the professor to ding a bell or shoot a gun like a horse race, but everyone just went about picking at the fat in the back at their own pace and as carefully as though there were land mines in it. By the end of week 2 or 3 you will probably be as carefree as a butcher w/ the cadaver. If you are still queasy, you should probably take a break now and again to get some fresh air, the smell is something that you will never get used to and never forget. We put socks on our female cadaver and did little humourous thing. The whole class bought some air fresheners and hung them from the ceilings, that was pretty comical, more mental relief and actually combating the smell of anatomy lab. Just keep your head up, you didn't come this far to poop out on the dissections. Best wishes. 😴

 

[equine_05]

I'll admit, I had some problems with the cadavers. (chuckle.) After opening the thorastic cavity, I just got really hot and everything slowly turned to black. That was it. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor with someone holding my head and the instructor telling people that this was "not some kind of show." So just remember that as long as you relax a little, learn, have respect, and have fun (BREATHE, lol,) gross anatomy is a pretty cool experience. But I was still so embarassed....

 

[Amy B]

Don't lock your knees or you will pass out. Shift from foot to foot with relaxed knees. Just a tip I learned from being at band camp in high school.

 

[rgporter]

I have similar worries. I think I'll be okay in gross anatomy I wasn't particularly bothered in the regular anatomy class I took during undergrad. They were all pre-disected though.
What worries me are the live patients with an axe sticking out of their skull, or with their tibia poking out of their skin, myself actually cutting people, etc. I am very squemish with pain, I've heard it's normal and you get over it. I hope so because as stupid as this is going to sound I would really like to be a surgeon and I think this would be a big liability. 🙁
Any insights on this? Will the time I spend in gross help me get over this? Or should I just plan on being a pathologist or some other specialty with no (live)patient contact.

 

[Kluver Bucy]

I remember, sometime in the middle of Gross Anatomy, actually missing the feeling of being freaked out by the cadaver experience, just the way I miss the tingles that scary movies used to give me when I was a kid. There's definitely a loss of innocence that happens very quickly in Gross Anatomy lab, and I'd encourage you to embrace the initial shock because it won't last long.

 

[Bevo]

its just weird that I saw this thread up here today.

I just came back from seeing my first autopsy. I had a small problem with anatomy lab, but the autopsy so a whole nother beast.

Especially without A/C!

 

[Kluver Bucy]

its just weird that I saw this thread up here today.

I just came back from seeing my first autopsy. I had a small problem with anatomy lab, but the autopsy so a whole nother beast.

Especially without A/C!

I know what you mean. I saw a video of an autopsy and had to turn my head. And this was after Gross. The GA cadavers just weren't that "life like."

 

[njbmd]

Hi Folks,
Once you get into the lab and start to look for structures, the issues of smell and queasiness will quickly turn into panic and lothing as the first lab practical rapidly approaches. We started to call the smell of formaldehyde "Freshman Perfume". I will admit that I burned my scrubs once I was done with Gross but I found that my need for a big juicy steak increased dramatically while we were dissecting the muscles. 😀

You will turn out to totally enjoy your experiences. It was amazing how we all got to the business of getting the job done.

Some hints for doing well in Gross:
1. Never go to lab unprepared. Make a check list of structures that you should see and look at the dissections in Rohen to see how big or how small they will be.
2. If your class text is Moore's Clinical Anatomy for Medical Students, purchase Baby Moore and learn it well. Read the "Blue Boxes" in big Moore and stop suffering.
3. Dr. Netter will be your best friend. Read your syllabus and look at Netter's Atlas to get your bearings.
4. Finish your dissections on both sides. You may have to assign time outside of the lab to get them completed. Our instructors had a nasty habit of completing any incomplete dissections on the morning of the practical and testing those. Get there first and nail em!
5. Help your classmates! If you have a pretty dissection, share the wealth. Make lists of good structures on good bodies and keep the list up to date.
6. In the week or so before your lab practical, take a group of students (no more than 5 or 6) and have one of the instructors quiz you at the body. Tell them to be brutal so that you have some idea of what to expect. These little sessions can be very instructive.
7. You will not be able to find the conjoint tendon so don't waste your time looking for it. You won't completely understand hernias until you repair several of them. Just memorize what you need to know for the exam.
8. Have fun and keep your cadaver from drying out or molding. If there was a significant time between time of death and embalming, you are going to have mold problems. Get the deiner to help you do some preventive maintenence.
9. Don't enter anyone's cadaver case without their permission.
10. Name your cadaver and be thankful for this gift. Always dispose of human remains in the manner that you have been instructed. Do not throw human remains into the regular trash.

njbmd 😀

 

[beanbean]

njbmd - great post

To add to the list:

11. Make sure you have enough scalpel blades before you get all dressed up and into the lab. Blades don't stay sharp for long when you are cutting through tough skin and fascia.

12. Be respectful of the people who have given you this gift. Don't joke about how fat or ugly a cadaver is or play stupid games.

13. Appreciate the little unique details about your cadaver like the color of her nail polish or the tatoo on his arm. It can be too easy to get caught up in the excitement of finding structures and forget about the person in front of you.

 

[femdoc]

I work w/dead bodies and it helps to eat something before. I have found that working on an empty stomach makes me queasy, esp. if the body is really on the rank side. Also, I use Vicks vapor rub on my upper lip to quell the smell.

 

[madtowngirl]

Our professors told us not to name our cadavers; they said it was disrespectful. We did have a ceremony to recognize their contribution.

And the conjoint tendon was I think on one of our practical exams, so I guess if its on the list of stuff to know I'd just know it and be able to find it. It's a little confusing to find but doable. That WAS the wierdest dissection though.

And our cadavers were actually property of everyone. We were free to use anyone's for studying, etc., although it was not polite to do any major dissecting on anyone else's. During weeks before exams, we'd open any and all cadavers to find structures; otherwise how do you find stuff on any other body?

Hi Folks,
Once you get into the lab and start to look for structures, the issues of smell and queasiness will quickly turn into panic and lothing as the first lab practical rapidly approaches. We started to call the smell of formaldehyde "Freshman Perfume". I will admit that I burned my scrubs once I was done with Gross but I found that my need for a big juicy steak increased dramatically while we were dissecting the muscles. 😀

You will turn out to totally enjoy your experiences. It was amazing how we all got to the business of getting the job done.

Some hints for doing well in Gross:
1. Never go to lab unprepared. Make a check list of structures that you should see and look at the dissections in Rohen to see how big or how small they will be.
2. If your class text is Moore's Clinical Anatomy for Medical Students, purchase Baby Moore and learn it well. Read the "Blue Boxes" in big Moore and stop suffering.
3. Dr. Netter will be your best friend. Read your syllabus and look at Netter's Atlas to get your bearings.
4. Finish your dissections on both sides. You may have to assign time outside of the lab to get them completed. Our instructors had a nasty habit of completing any incomplete dissections on the morning of the practical and testing those. Get there first and nail em!
5. Help your classmates! If you have a pretty dissection, share the wealth. Make lists of good structures on good bodies and keep the list up to date.
6. In the week or so before your lab practical, take a group of students (no more than 5 or 6) and have one of the instructors quiz you at the body. Tell them to be brutal so that you have some idea of what to expect. These little sessions can be very instructive.
7. You will not be able to find the conjoint tendon so don't waste your time looking for it. You won't completely understand hernias until you repair several of them. Just memorize what you need to know for the exam.
8. Have fun and keep your cadaver from drying out or molding. If there was a significant time between time of death and embalming, you are going to have mold problems. Get the deiner to help you do some preventive maintenence.
9. Don't enter anyone's cadaver case without their permission.
10. Name your cadaver and be thankful for this gift. Always dispose of human remains in the manner that you have been instructed. Do not throw human remains into the regular trash.

njbmd 😀