FIRST DISSECTION!!

(I wrote this on Thursday August 13th)

So today was my first day dissecting our cadaver and it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be Let me start off by saying i have found out that i love to cut! Anyways, Group A had already dissected the superficial (outtermost) muscles of the back and we dissected the deeper muscles around the spine. I was totally fine until about 9:30 (we started at 8) when we started dissecting the base of the neck and skull. We had to cut the skull and pull back the skin (with hair on it and all) and at that point i decided to step out and get some air. It was the sight and smell that made me get hot all of a sudden, in the beginning i forced myself to not think about the person but seeing her hair made it very very real. Yesterday in lecture our professor told us that whenever we need to, we should go outside for about 5 minutes until we feel better and then stay outside another 5 after that. With formaldehyde its a pretty intense smell so leaning over the body for 3 hours at a time is not exactly comfortable, not to mention very bad for us. For example, i cant wear contacts because the formaldehyde will start to stick to them and thats no bueno.

On a good note, i have decided to run for vice president of our class and will know on Aug 20th if i won the position or not. There are 4 or 5 other people running so we'll see what happens!

Tonight is gonna be a fun night of going to dinner with friends and studying. we will see how much studying actually gets done :)


i dissection down, a LOT more smelly ones to go!!!
:)

FIRST DISSECTION!!

(I wrote this on Thursday August 13th) So today was my first day dissecting our cadaver and it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be! Group A had already dissected the superficial (outtermost) muscles and we dissected the deeper muscles around the spine. I was totally fine until about 9:30 (we started at 8) when we started dissecting the base of the neck and skull. We had to cut the skull and pull back the skin (with hair on it and all) and at that point i decided to step out and get some air. It was the sight and smell that made me get hot all of a sudden, in the beginning i forced myself to not think about the person but seeing her hair made it very very real. Yesterday in lecture our professor told us that whenever we need to, we should go outside for about 5 minutes until we feel better and then stay outside another 5 after that. With formaldehyde its a pretty intense smell so leaning over the body for 3 hours at a time is not exactly comfortable, not to mention very bad for us. For example, i cant wear contacts because the formaldehyde fumes will start to stick to them and thats no bueno. On a good note, i have decided to run for vice president of our class and will know on Aug 20th if i won the position or not. There are 4 or 5 other people running so we'll see what happens! Tonight is gonna be a fun night of going to dinner with friends and studying. we will see how much studying actually gets done :) i dissection down, a LOT more smelly ones to go!!! :)

not overwhelmed just yet....

Yesterday was the first day of classes and it was a day full of "Introduction to the Study of Medicine" lectures so it wasnt to bad. We did have Intro to Anatomy in the afternoon but the material hasnt piled on...YET. I still studied for a LONG time last night though. Our schedule works out where we have to study and LEARN the information dissected/lectured for the following day. Thus, Mondy night is spent preparing for the dissection to be done on Tuesday morning and a lecture quiz on the same material at the beginning of class which has not yet been taught to us. crazy!

I did not actually dissect today because we have a Group A and Group B. Basically, I will do every other dissection. In each group there are 4 people so they are 8 total working on one cadavar. At the last 30min of lab, the group that did not dissect will come into lab and the dissecting group will go over everything they did and vice versa for the next day. Group A dissected the superficial back muscles today and I (in Group B) came at 11:15 to be shown what they dissected and study the muscles they revealed. Sooooo, I did get to touch, feel, and learn from a cadavar today. A very big deal!!

Our cadavar is a woman that died at the age of 60. I do not know how I feel about this whole situation yet but since we are working on her back muscles right now I think I won't freak out until we start work on the anterior (front) of her body. Either way, I have nothing but respect and gratitude for her decision to donate her body in order for me to become a competent physician.

Tomorrow is another dull day of "Intro to Medicine" with lectures on Self awareness, professionalism, learning styles, Developing an Osteopathic identity, and some other Physician and Society Classes. Thursday morning it is back to the lab when I will be exposing the deep back muscles of the cadavar!

Tomorrow brings new adventures and challenges...

It has been non stop since Monday and I am finally able to sit down at my desk and relax a bit before tomorrow...my first day of classes. I have met so many amazing people in the past week that it is hard to believe i will be meeting even more. I am impressed with Western because they picked a LOT of wonderful people to be in our class.

White coat was yesterday and this whole process of pretending to be a doctor is starting to become real. I had a great day with the parents and then went out to a GREAT party. It was the perfect way to celebrate our LAST NIGHT of absolute, no responsibility, no studying FREEDOM. But, I cannot wait for anatomy to start and to make my first cut in the cadaver. It will all be worth it! Here goes!!!