Vet School Anatomy

[kleiny-boy]

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I am applying to vet school c/o 2019, but haven't decided what schools to apply to yet.

I know some vet schools no longer dissect cadaver animals in anatomy and was wondering if anyone knows which schools do or don't dissect cadavers, or where I can find a list with the answer.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Ashgirl]

I am applying to vet school c/o 2019, but haven't decided what schools to apply to yet.

I know some vet schools no longer dissect cadaver animals in anatomy and was wondering if anyone knows which schools do or don't dissect cadavers, or where I can find a list with the answer.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

I don't think I have ever heard of no dissection of cadavers in anatomy lab, at least in the US schools. Did you hear about it from a specific school?

 

[kleiny-boy]

I'm currently in an anatomy class and my professor said on the first day that some schools, including vet schools no longer used cadavers for dissection. I also had a friend tell me a couple months ago, but i'm not sure where they heard the information.

 

[Coquette22]

I couldn't fathom learning anatomy without a cadaver. Pictures and models just really don't add up to the real thing. Plus having multiple breeds and sizes of cadavers gave us a better idea of individual variation and how things can look different.

 

[DVMDream]

I have not heard of any school not doing dissections. There is an exception with the GEP course at Edinburgh not doing full dissections on cadavers, but we still did have some minor dissections on certain organs (brain, eye, heart).

 

[DVMDream]

I couldn't fathom learning anatomy without a cadaver. Pictures and models just really don't add up to the real thing. Plus having multiple breeds and sizes of cadavers gave us a better idea of individual variation and how things can look different.

It is not easy to learn anatomy without dissection. I struggled with it.

 

[kleiny-boy]

I couldn't fathom learning anatomy without a cadaver. Pictures and models just really don't add up to the real thing. Plus having multiple breeds and sizes of cadavers gave us a better idea of individual variation and how things can look different.

That is the main reason I'd like to make sure I don't accidentally end up at a school that doesn't use cadavers.

 

[DVMDream]

I have not heard of any school not doing dissections. There is an exception with the GEP course at Edinburgh not doing full dissections on cadavers, but we still did have some minor dissections on certain organs (brain, eye, heart).

However, the 5 year course at Edinburgh does use cadavers and does full dissections.

 

[Ashgirl]

That is the main reason I'd like to make sure I don't accidentally end up at a school that doesn't use cadavers.

I honestly don't think there is a school that doesn't use cadavers. However, if you are really worried, you could email or call the schools you are interested in and see how they handle anatomy class.

 

[MooVet]

That is the main reason I'd like to make sure I don't accidentally end up at a school that doesn't use cadavers.

Ah, I read this post as you looking for schools that didn't use cadavers.

You shouldn't have much trouble finding schools that do use cadavers. The only major differences in cadaver use in most schools is where they are sourced from. The only school I've ever heard of not using any cadavers at all was a school in Australia, where some pro-animal rights students developed computer dissection models and insisted that all schools should offer this option for students who didn't want to needlessly kill animals for dissection. That was at least a decade ago though, and I doubt it was ever implemented on a large scale. I can't even imagine learning anatomy solely from a computer program.

 

[Frozenshades]

Ah, I read this post as you looking for schools that didn't use cadavers.

You shouldn't have much trouble finding schools that do use cadavers. The only major differences in cadaver use in most schools is where they are sourced from. The only school I've ever heard of not using any cadavers at all was a school in Australia, where some pro-animal rights students developed computer dissection models and insisted that all schools should offer this option for students who didn't want to needlessly kill animals for dissection. That was at least a decade ago though, and I doubt it was ever implemented on a large scale. I can't even imagine learning anatomy solely from a computer program.

Which is why people can keep making all their models and simulations and whatever and they still are only used as supplemental material. Perhaps one day that will become a trend, but man, anatomy is hard; I couldn't imagine learning it without dissection. Especially since students need to learn surgery. How can they expect you to be a competent surgeon without ever seeing and feeling the anatomy of a real animal before? Not saying it's impossible, but the concept of doing surgery already scares me a little, I'd be petrified if I hadn't worked with a cadaver before even.

 

[MooVet]

Which is why people can keep making all their models and simulations and whatever and they still are only used as supplemental material. Perhaps one day that will become a trend, but man, anatomy is hard; I couldn't imagine learning it without dissection. Especially since students need to learn surgery. How can they expect you to be a competent surgeon without ever seeing and feeling the anatomy of a real animal before? Not saying it's impossible, but the concept of doing surgery already scares me a little, I'd be petrified if I hadn't worked with a cadaver before even.

Exactly. The first few months of anatomy none of us had a clue how to tell things like arteries, veins, nerves, tendons, etc apart. The only way we learned was by seeing and touching them all the time. I'd be terrified to be going into surgery flying blind like that. I doubt the computer program would account for normal anatomical variations either. You would probably just be given the same images over and over again.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Which is why people can keep making all their models and simulations and whatever and they still are only used as supplemental material. Perhaps one day that will become a trend, but man, anatomy is hard; I couldn't imagine learning it without dissection. Especially since students need to learn surgery. How can they expect you to be a competent surgeon without ever seeing and feeling the anatomy of a real animal before? Not saying it's impossible, but the concept of doing surgery already scares me a little, I'd be petrified if I hadn't worked with a cadaver before even.

I don't see any reason to change, but just to be a fly in the ointment.....

I think you guys are over-estimating your need for cadavers to get through vet school. On the view that surgery is never done for the first time alone, you can learn a lot assisting on surgeries. I mean most surgical residents assist before they dig in. So I can see "on the job learning" being a much larger part of doing surgery.

I am not sure I remember much of anything from anatomy, and it doesn't look the same IRL anyway.
So, that is the argument I would make if I cared to make one, which I don't.

 

[DVMDream]

I think you guys are over-estimating your need for cadavers to get through vet school.

Considering I did not get the hands on dissecting with a cadaver, I don't think it is an over-estimation, I seriously struggled with anatomy. Didn't get to dissect out the muscles, nerves, blood vessels, etc. We had one lab to go to for say the forelimb, then the cadavers (there were I think 3 forelimb ones) were put away and we had to learn via books/diagrams. We did get a review session before exams to review things but we could not just go in as wanted. It was difficult. And taking what you have studied in a book and trying to find it on a cadaver is not easy.

Then again, I learn better by doing/listening. So simply staring at a diagram for hours on end is about the worst way I could study and I was forced to do that with anatomy.

 

[WelshCob]

Florida has both a dog anatomy dissection your first semester and a large anatomy lab second semester where we dissect horses and chickens.

 

[Frozenshades]

Florida has both a dog anatomy dissection your first semester and a large anatomy lab second semester where we dissect horses and chickens.

I feel like that's probably about the norm. First semester was a dog, second semester was a pony, calf or goat, fetal pig, and a chicken.

Considering I did not get the hands on dissecting with a cadaver, I don't think it is an over-estimation, I seriously struggled with anatomy. Didn't get to dissect out the muscles, nerves, blood vessels, etc. We had one lab to go to for say the forelimb, then the cadavers (there were I think 3 forelimb ones) were put away and we had to learn via books/diagrams. We did get a review session before exams to review things but we could not just go in as wanted. It was difficult. And taking what you have studied in a book and trying to find it on a cadaver is not easy.

Then again, I learn better by doing/listening. So simply staring at a diagram for hours on end is about the worst way I could study and I was forced to do that with anatomy.

I'm with you. I can definitely learn and study some from diagrams and text, but without the hands on time I definitely would've struggled to piece it all together in my mind. I could see it working for some people, but that course layout would've been more challenging for me.

 

[WillowLeaf]

Not a vet student for a few months yet, but you're getting my 2 cents anyway... Cadavers were super helpful in undergrad anatomy, and that's just undergrad level. For me there's a huge difference between seeing a picture, even a photograph of a cadaver, and actually getting to look at a cadaver myself, move the organs around to see how everything goes together, feel the veins and arteries and bronchi and stuff. And the individual variation was interesting to see, both normal variation and disease-related differences. I also agree that a cadaver looks and feels very different from a living animal, though.

I bet that's something you could ask a school before applying or going there. I can't imagine a school having any problem telling you what their anatomy course is like. I'm pretty sure that Oregon State, WesternU, Davis, and Tufts all use cadavers.

 

[NStarz]

Ohio also uses cadavers! Dogs first semester (1 dog/4 people) and horses second semester (1 horse/6 people) with cow and pig prosections.

 

[Kpowell14]

Mizzou uses Cadavers as well!

Dog and cat cadavers first semester ( 1 dog & cat / 4-5 people)

Horse and cow second semester ( 1 horse & cow / ~12 people)

We also dissected turtles, chickens, and snakes ( 4 chickens/ 12 people and 2 snakes/turtles per 12 people)

We also had rat, pig, and lizard prosections..

When it came time to learn the heart and the eye each group was also given their own heart and eye to work with and I think that's about it.... Thank God anatomy is OVERRR!!!!

 

[Suomi]

I'm pretty sure that Oregon State, WesternU, Davis, and Tufts all use cadavers.

Yep, Oregon State uses cadavers. And I agree with everyone above. I could never have passed anatomy if we hadn't spent the ridiculous amount of time dissecting. We also had 24/7 access to the lab to pull out our specimens to study from whenever we needed to. Our instructors also create tagged specimens so we can use those to help us find things on our own specimens.

Because we are on the quarter system, our dissection schedule is a bit weird. So first term is all dog and cat dissections (1 dog and 1 cat per group of 4 students). Second term, the first third of the term was finishing up dog/cat dissections, second third was dissecting chickens, ferrets, rabbits, mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, and some misc. birds (pigeons, for example). Last third was large animal osteology. Usually there was one small rodent per 1 student and one rabbit or ferret per 2 students (with each table of four doing one rabbit and one ferret and sharing what they found).

Third quarter, we dissected out horses, bulls, sheep and goats. There was also a tagged pig specimen if we wanted to look at it as well. Goats/sheep were in groups of four. Horses/bulls were in groups of 8 or so (4 people on each side).

 

[neocia]

Semi-unrelated question - but thought I'd add it to this thread....

Has anyone here found a nice model for studying anatomy? I am looking on Amazon at some decent anatomical plastic models of horses and dogs; I think it would help me to have a mini "animal" to study at home when I'm not in the lab. For undergrad, when I lived at home, I borrowed a cat skeleton from the clinic I worked at to study at home - very helpful.

 

[Cyndia]

Semi-unrelated question - but thought I'd add it to this thread....

Has anyone here found a nice model for studying anatomy? I am looking on Amazon at some decent anatomical plastic models of horses and dogs; I think it would help me to have a mini "animal" to study at home when I'm not in the lab. For undergrad, when I lived at home, I borrowed a cat skeleton from the clinic I worked at to study at home - very helpful.

I think there's another thread somewhere that has links for decent online resources like the colorado state dog anatomy website. As for models, we had a lot of random models throughout the lab, and we were each given a dog skeleton and a shared horse skeleton to study from. We weren't supposed to take home the skeletons, so I mainly studied them in the library, and then just studied off the cadavers in lab. I imagine most of the plastic models that are available online are either too basic or else way too expensive. My advice is to just go to lab to study, and then use your book/online resources to review at home.

 

[agisarang42]

I think there's another thread somewhere that has links for decent online resources like the colorado state dog anatomy website. As for models, we had a lot of random models throughout the lab, and we were each given a dog skeleton and a shared horse skeleton to study from. We weren't supposed to take home the skeletons, so I mainly studied them in the library, and then just studied off the cadavers in lab. I imagine most of the models that are available online are either too basic or else way too expensive. My advice is to just go to lab to study, and then use your book/online resources to review at home.

I am using Colorado State anatomy virtual online images too! Its helpful since they post many detailed photos 🙂

 

[Cyndia]

Ah, just went and found the thread I was talking about. Tons of resources for a bunch of different classes:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/vet-school-study-tools.1087936/#post-15500734