Anatomy Class

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm not sure how to search old topics. My question is, how gruesome is A&P? I am just starting out (obviously if I'm only in A&P), and I paged through the lab book, and whoa... gross. I'm very worried. If I have trouble cutting open animals and pulling out their insides, does that mean I should find a new career path? I'm not trying to be a surgeon here... and giving shots and putting in IV's doesn't make me nervous at all, but the thought of cutting into a "freshly killed rabbit" as described in the lab book makes me feel slightly panicked.

Anatomy and Physiology... now that I look back was a great starting point to nurses. Just because it starts off with just a hint of bad smells. hahahaha... I remember the cat that we had in our class.... ohhh goodness the smell of that stuff they put on their to keep it from decomposing was horrid!!!!!!!!! Its a good starting point though.... its good preparation for nursing school though. Best of luck to you...

My school does not do dissections. Our A and P class required a lot of memorization, but it was very doable as long as you really really studied. I've done dissections for other classes and my only comfort to you is that your sense of smell will become accustomed to the smell of formaldehyde relatively quickly. Try to distance yourself that it is an animal and try to view it strictly as a learning lesson.

Good luck to you. I am currently in A and P II.

The worst part for me was not cutting up the animal - we did cats. It was the smell of the formalthehyde.

The human dissections in anatomy did not bother me at all. I felt quite fortunate to have the opportunity with only 4 students per cadaver. Any covering was at our discretion. We also had the "kick off" meeting where the code of conduct was established. We were given their death certificates but their names were blacked out. We all submitted the names of anybody close to us who'd passed away in the prior few months in order to avert any potential problems.

The harder thing for me was in physiology. We were supposed to kill live frogs in order to study the affects of various drugs on their still-beating hearts. I'm just not the hunter/killer type. The instructor ended up pithing all the frogs; we took it from there. I have to admit, it was one of the most fascinating labs I've ever done. It was also interesting to see fresh, perfused tissue.

(RN2B73, thank you very much)

I am interested by all the different experiences people have had as far as dissection vs. observation and humans vs. varied animals. I think it is facinating that we have had such a wide variation in teaching experiences to bring us all through the same learning process.

I had A&P with several cats (already preserved), and dissected a cow eye and a sheep (?) brain. I also remember it being a ton of memorization. It would have been very interesting, educational to do a U of M field trip, but that was not an option offered to my class. (I'm guessing a different college than luvmy3kids - very cool opportunity!)

♪♫ in my ♥ - I wanted to add my condolences. I noticed the change in your avatar yesterday, but wasn't sure of the correct forum to comment in, so I'll add on here. Peace and comfort to you and your family in this time of loss.

Thanks everyone who took the time to reassure me. Your comments are very helpful. I was worried that my fears maybe were indicating this wasn't for me... but I had class last night, and I'm pretty excited about the subject. So, I'll deal with the labs when they come. A friend of mine told me they euthanized rabbits right in the room and they dissected them warm. OMG. So, in my lab room last night, there was a big glass cabinet with a knob that says "gas". I was thinking, oh no... I hope they aren't going to kill animals right in front of us. I will freak out. It's one thing to dissect something that's dead and preserved.... She went to nursing school 10 years ago though... maybe they don't do that anymore. Hopefully.

Thanks everyone who took the time to reassure me. Your comments are very helpful. I was worried that my fears maybe were indicating this wasn't for me... but I had class last night, and I'm pretty excited about the subject. So, I'll deal with the labs when they come. A friend of mine told me they euthanized rabbits right in the room and they dissected them warm. OMG. So, in my lab room last night, there was a big glass cabinet with a knob that says "gas". I was thinking, oh no... I hope they aren't going to kill animals right in front of us. I will freak out. It's one thing to dissect something that's dead and preserved.... She went to nursing school 10 years ago though... maybe they don't do that anymore. Hopefully.

Frankly, I'd much prefer to work with fresh tissue than preserved tissue. It's much easier to work with, easier to identify, and not nearly so stinky and nasty.

I took anatomy 18 months ago in a program that used cats for disection and would like to add my 2 cents. Everybody is sqeamish in different ways at different times so try not to pigeon hole yourself until you really find out what is tough for you. For me it was the very beggining with the cat in a bag in front of me waiting to be pulled out. This was probably my toughest time although I'll never know why.

We worked in groups of 2-3 students and after the "dead cat in bag nasea" I did just fine for the weeks we worked on our cats. I think everyone brings different strenghts at different points in disection. My strategy I think became to always do as much work as I could for as long as I could and then let (or ask) someone else to step in when I needed a break from it.

What I'm trying to say is that you will probably do better than you thought you would, everybody is a little different and has highs and lows at mostly different points for unknown reasons, and don't sell yourself short prior to really finding out first hand what is most difficult for you. Hang in there and work with your group and you'll do fine :)

Paul...

I LOVED A&P!! I was very nervous and worried about how I would react to seeing a cadaver in front of me, but once that moment happened, my mindset completely changed. I didn't feel nauseated or grossed out at all. It was like...WOW!!! THAT'S what I look like on the inside? To see human organs right there in front of you and being able to touch them... it's just SO fascinating!! The human body is an AMAZING creation!

As a side note...when I was looking at cadavers in lab and could think about what I wanted for lunch at the same time.....THAT was when I knew nursing was for me! LOL

I managed to dissect a cat while pregnant - I wore a carbon filter respirator because of the smell. The funny thing is, I developed a great deal of affection for that cat, a kind of intimate knowledge not otherwise obtainable - the details of her hard life, broken teeth, fleas, the exquisite tiny kittens lined up in the horns of her uterus (poor little things.) You manage to go to another place mentally, and you learn something of the medical/nursing focus where you see only the part you are working on.