Gunther von Hagens has 4 great anatomical videos with dissection called Anatomy for Beginners, it aired on Channel 4 years ago, if you mostly want explanations here's great channel as well https://www.youtube.com/c/InstituteofHumanAnatomy/
What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
101–110 of 111 posts
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#102> Corpses are ridiculously stiff. I couldn’t turn an arm over without risking snapping the wrist.
Mary Roach has written a great book book with the same name about the same subject.
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#103Earlier 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.
> Worst part was the smell of formalin.
You should eat Serrano ham sandwich afterwards, that just about cures it /s
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 exp…
No. This is first hand experience by my brother during anatomy classes. He was a student and one of the jokers, too. He said this behavior was pretty common, and he took part in it. Disrespectful/joking behavior behind the scenes is not too rare with doctors, either. I have doctor friends who attest to this, as in, they engage in this behavior (so again, no game of telephone here). Never in front of the patient, sinc…
I had overheard some dentists joking recently, that was so discussing than even proctologists couldn't say such jokes.
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speaking from first-hand, I can't remember any disrespectful behavior. Acting disrespectful toward the donor (what we called the cadavers) would get you kicked out of anatomy lab. There is even a "gift of body" ceremony commemorating the donations every year that family members can attend. Med students will speak about how the donors impacted their medical education and how much they appreciate them. I would hope tha…
Also speaking from first hand I remember quite a bit of "disrespect". Jokes were outright common. The vast majority of interactions were respectful of course -- its hard work studying anatomy after all. But TBH many folks in medicine can be quite callous, which I find not unrelated to the task at hand (i.e. dealing with the crazy and brutal facts of us all being mushy living creatures at a much higher rate than most…
> TBH many folks in medicine can be quite callous
Pretty much. Med school seems to have this sinister ability to destroy part of your humanity.
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#106In college I got to spend a day at a cadaver lab, where the pre-meds taking that class acted as tour guides. It was one of the more meaningful experiences of my education such that I feel everyone should have the opportunity. I learned more about mammalian anatomy in that single experience than from any of the biology labs in which I'd been a student.
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Random side note but feinting at the sight of blood isn't necessarily a squeamish thing. I remember when we were learning to place IV's and the med student a row over from me warned he would feint. The nurses teaching us tried to re-assure him but he interrupted -- "Oh I'm not squeamish or scared or anything, its just a reaction to blood specifically". (TY for sharing your story btw, thought the aside was interesting…
Phlebotomist insisted I look away while she took my blood for testing, I'm pretty certain I would be fine, but I suppose one can't really know short of experience, and she's had enough people gain a bad experience not to want to let anyone gain any! Surely a med student needs to overcome that though? Even going into say.. radiology, it seems bound to happen from time to time, isn't that just really inconvenient for e…
There are specific courses for blood and needle phobias for medical students.
From my understanding they’re mostly exposure therapy. Perhaps also some additional teaching about what be actual (low) risks with exposure are.
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
> Worst part was the smell of formalin. You should eat Serrano ham sandwich afterwards, that just about cures it /s
The formalin smell and hunger are such a weird trip in the lab. Good lunch before was key in my opinion.
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any advice on how to get over that reaction to blood?
maybe watching the show "dexter" can help? I am weak to some blood stuff, I fainted once just talking about it. However, donating blood or watching dexter was ok.
I was not allowed to donate blood because the nurse noticed I started to look pale before I even got stuck with the needle.
Re: What it’s like to dissect a cadaver
#110Great article. Some of my thoughts and experiences:
-- most medical school cadavers look like jerky and smell weird -- most medical schools (in the UK at least) do not like students doing dissection; they prefer prosection (where someone competent has already made the cut) -- it was, for me, an increasingly weird feeling to realise that the images seen on medical imaging -- particularly axial (cross-sectional) t2 weighted MRI images, really really do look like reality, but with the colours in grey and white rather than odd shades of red, white and pink -- nobody feels emotional about a liver -- everybody feels emotional about hands, and doesn't expect to when they go in -- for actually understanding the Latin names of everything and the typical decorative layout of the human body, VR or just plain medical imaging are pretty damn good, arguably better than aforesaid interestingly smelling jerky -- for actually understanding that your future career will involve dealing with people's children or possibly parents in dire situations, that we are all naked under our clothes (and should just get over it as a society), and that, yes, we are all going to die, the dissection room can't be beat.