Dissections

...Anatomy and Dissection...

Hazaa! Today I had my last table conference for anatomy. At my medical school we are divided into groups of 4 and each group is assigned a cadaver. That's right, I started this year with a complete and un-dissected human body all to myself. Initially I thought that I would love anatomy lab. Unfortunately that is not the case.

It turns out that while I loved anatomy during undergrad, I realized that what I really loved about undergrad anatomy was being able to find the structures on a body that had been *pre-dissected* by actual anatomists... anatomists that actually know what they're doing.

You see, in dissection lab I feel kinda like a kid with a scalpel. My cuts are not educated or in any way artistic. I try and follow the dissection guide, but just end up feeling a bit like a butcher and kind of disgusted a lot of the time. To make it worse, the dissections are so time consuming I end up focusing more on the cutting than the anatomy and often walk away from lab feeling like I really didn't learn much.

...But anyway...

Back to the table conferences. Over the course of the semester we have 3 random days that we will be selected for a table conference (a.k.a. anatomy quiz). This means that we need to be up to date on our dissections and have the anatomy down at all times. The catch?... if you get quizzed three times (and for me, today was #3), you're done for the rest of the semester until the anatomy lab final. This means I no longer have to obsess over ensuring my dissections are clean. From now on I can just make sure they are mostly complete and focus on the learning the anatomy.

...Needless to say...
This is a huge relief- One that is currently sending shoots of mild euphoria to my overworked and under-rested brain.

And so, as a tribute to cadaver lab and my current dose of euphoria... I'll fill you guys in on some of the highlights of my semester and our dissections...

1) Spinal column dissection:
We used a bone saw to cut through the spinal vertebrae to expose the spinal cord. After using the saw we used a hammer and chisel to break the final bony attachments. I was chiseling away and took hold of the spinal column and began wiggling it back and forth trying to free it- with one final sickening rip of faschia and remaining connective tissue, I freed the spinal column. I hadn't been expecting it come loose when it did. The momentum of my pull ended with my arm up in the air holding the entire column over my head. I backed into a corner to shake off the disgust evoked by the sensation of ripping tissue while the 2 boys in my group got a good laugh. There's a move on Mortal Combat in which opponents are able to rip out each others spine and end the match- apparently they thought I did good impression... bleh :(

2) The Heart:
The passage of blood through the heart, it's delivery to the body, the internal structures of this organ, and it's applications to clinical abnormalities is truly amazing. Basically I find the intricacies of the CV system nothing short of beautiful. Can you tell I kind of dug these dissections?... Maybe I should consider cardio.

3) Repro:
In my book, this would be more appropriately called Rep-NO! I legitimately hated Repro dissection week. Although in general, human dissection kind of grosses me out, there have been few moments that really hit my gag reflex. My group is assigned a male cadaver. We were therefore responsible for dissecting the male anatomy. I manned up long enough to help with the dissection by cutting through the scrotal sac and identifying the anatomy of the testes, but when it came time to remove/cut off the penis to examine the internal structures and erectile tissues, I simply could not do it. I backed away, got slightly woozy, and was forced to sit down. Yeah, I still have yet to touch the penis of my cadaver... ew.

Other than that, I've only had a few other cringe worthy moments in anatomy lab... i.e. dealing with clotted blood curdling out of the various arteries we've cut, dealing with feces during dissection of the bowel, dissection of the face and anus.

**As a closing note, although I emphasized my distaste for dissecting, I also want to emphasize my gratitude to those that have donated their bodies for our dissections. Most of our cadavers were prior health care professionals and all of our cadavers, regardless of their career in life, specifically donated their bodies for this very purpose. Their sacrifice enables us as medical students to learn the intricacies of the body and it's internal structures so that we may better be able to apply function with form, something that I consider invaluable to the practice of medicine. So while I may prefer learning from pre-dissected cadavers, I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation for those that donated their bodies. Perhaps I'll try focusing on that sacrifice the next time I start feeling sick or like dipping out of anatomy lab early.**

Until then... Anatomy, I'll see you at the final.