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What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

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Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#41

Post by s1mon »

I spent three days in a cadaver lab with two severed heads. I was helping develop a tool to place a wound dressing in the sinuses after an ethmoidectomy. For most of the time we had cloth draped over most of the head except the nose, but I did end up seeing the severed neck and the faces. You really can’t unsee that.

The facility we used also did animal experiments, which I really don’t want to know about, but there was an amazing photocopied chart taped up in the locker room with diagrams of how to put notches in mouse ears in order to encode numbers on them.

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#42

Post by euroderf »

Contemplating human innards makes me queasy PDQ. Somewhat relatedly, I unreservedly reject tattoos as a desecration of the gift of nature.

That all being said, I agree, this essay was well-written and appropriately respectful. Thank you for posting !

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#43

Post by bell-cot »

Two observations I've heard from a young relative who has done cadaver dissection at scale, and is qualified to teach the subject in Med. School:

- "You want a facility with good ventilation. Doesn't take an M.D. to understand that breathing the vapors from embalming fluids, intestine contents, etc. is bad."

- "Once you get the head off, the rest is easy."

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#44

Post by idiotsecant »

the_af wrote: post #16
danielheath wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most discussions involving cadavers are quite respectful of the fact that they are working on the mortal remains of a person Not that I know first-hand, but that's not the impression I got from the med students when I was at uni. People find all sorts of odd ways to cope with their own mortality, and getting reminded of it tends to bring those to the fore.

My brother, when he attended his anatomy classes, told me the med students were very playful and joked all the time. A coping mechanism, perhaps? I think it's understandable, but respectful they were not. For example, they called one of the corpses "blondie"... and she was headless. Let that one sink in.

Interesting that the stories about disrespectful behavior are always a friend of a friend and not the medical students themselves. I suspect a majority of these second hand stories of casual disrespect are a combination of a game of telephone and unreliable narrative bluster from young medical students confronting their own mortality for possibly the first time in their lives. Every story from someone with direct experience seems to be respectful.

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#45

Post by giardini »

minimal-o wrote: post #19
cedricgle wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well don't donate your body to France [1]. Some witness even alleged the medical team played football with people heads. [1] https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/french-academic-charged-over-mas...

Yikes! I hope that was a corner, nee coroner, case, but it would not surprise me. My mother was a student nurse in the 40's. In the U.S. for context. She told me of corpses floating in a big tub, or vat, at uni, and that they had to take them out and dissect them for class. She didn't mention any peculiar schenanigans as you describe and I am glad she did not.

shenanigans (no "c").

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#46

Post by giardini »

sergiotapia wrote: post #38

I've been in medical schools where there were corpses and students all over the large hall. My first thought was wow each of these people had dreams, personalities and a soul. They were somebody. It gave me some comfort that the students were taught to respect the bodies and treat them with dignity. I wonder if that's all medical school or only this one because it was catholic. It seems OP doesn't care about this? An…

A soul?! Reminds me of Queen's "Fun It":

>"Hey, everybody, everybody gonna have a good time tonight

Just shakin' the soles of your feet

Everybody, everybody gonna have a good time tonight

That's the only soul you'll ever meet..."https://www.letras.com/queen/86774/

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#47

Post by Starwatcher2001 »

JusticeJuice wrote: post #4
zac_hudson wrote: post #2

Firstly, its surprising that this school allows what would apparently be the lay public gain access to human anatomical gifts. In Canada, this is restricted to persons with a legitimate interest, ie med students and grad students in bioengineering/bio-adjacent fields. I think that the author is not an individual with such an interest was quite clear from the tone taken on this piece - most discussions involving cadav…

Yeah, it's stuff like this that makes me not want to donate my body to science.

I'm on the list to donate my body. Perhaps a medical student will gain just a little more insight or skill by practicing a technique on my body, and perhaps that will help them save or help a patient or two in the future. I hope so.

The thornier issue, having discussed my wishes with my family, is how it will affect them after I go.

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#48

Post by criddell »

rubatuga wrote: post #12
danielheath wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most discussions involving cadavers are quite respectful of the fact that they are working on the mortal remains of a person Not that I know first-hand, but that's not the impression I got from the med students when I was at uni. People find all sorts of odd ways to cope with their own mortality, and getting reminded of it tends to bring those to the fore.

First-hand, every session that involved cadavers during medical school was very respectful. We were told not to take photos as well. Worst part was the smell of formalin. Humour is fine, assuming the person/cadaver would have been okay with it (and quite a few of the older patients I've met joke about their mortality). But I would rather be respectful and play it safe.

Does very respectful mean no dark humor?

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#49

Post by loeg »

est31 wrote: post #34

> If you exercise, we’ll know. Their insides just look different. I've seen some video footage of minimally invasive operations (during a dies academicus lecture) and OMG fat was just so ugly. I know it is a natural part of us but when I saw that footage I promised myself to do more sports. Or IDK what they were referring to.

Probably muscle mass and connective tissue, too.

Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver

#50

Post by [deleted] »

JusticeJuice wrote: post #4
zac_hudson wrote: post #2

Firstly, its surprising that this school allows what would apparently be the lay public gain access to human anatomical gifts. In Canada, this is restricted to persons with a legitimate interest, ie med students and grad students in bioengineering/bio-adjacent fields. I think that the author is not an individual with such an interest was quite clear from the tone taken on this piece - most discussions involving cadav…

Yeah, it's stuff like this that makes me not want to donate my body to science.

[deleted]
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