My first cadaver

We had a “sneak peek” in the Anatomy lab today hosted by the 2nd year students. I had pretty high expectations of myself going into lab. I had seen and touched several dead bodies in South Africa and seen the Body Worlds exhibit in LA so what could be so bad about a few embalmed cadavers?

And yet, as the 2nd year students calmly unzipped the blue plastic bags holding them, I felt my stomach turn a little. The formalin stung in my nose and I felt a mild tingling sensation in my hands and feet as they peeled back the shroud to reveal the grey, rubbery skin. One of the cadavers, an old man still had all of his chest and back hair which stuck out all over the place. He was barrel chested and had a protruded belly which looked like it may have once been soft and plump but was now hard, rubbery and unyielding. Luckily for me, the hands, feet and head were bound up in gauze (we won’t unwrap those until we study the head and neck).

A few presses, pulls, rubs later, I felt more comfortable around the bodies and ready for labs to start next week.

All in all, it wasn’t mind-blowing but it was a significant experience in my second week of med school nonetheless.

I guess, in a way, this is a microcosm of the whole process of starting med school. No major epiphanies, just a few tiny revelations here and there. Maybe in another couple of weeks, I will finally feel like I’m a med student?