My A&P professor is asking/encouraging us to visit an exhibt called Body Worlds in a museum in Philly, PA. It is composed of real human cadavers in different positions prevserved w/ a method called plastination. It is like 7hrs away from where I am so a couple of ppl from my class are going up, staying the night, and going to the exhibt and The Body at the Imax theatre. He is really making it worth our while. After the semester is over, those of us who go to this exhibit will be able to replace our lowest lab practical or lecture exam with 100. That is worth a travel for me, although I am doing really well now, who knows what will happen?
Anywho.. I just want to know what anyone who has seen this thought. Real cadavers exposed in public? Thoughts? I know those of us studying medical professions see this all the time, but do you think it is tasteful in public? I am personally all for education, but I wanted to get other perspectives. The most contriversal exhibit is of a 8 month pregnant woman w/ her fetus still inside. It has been all over the country. I am excited to see all the things I have been learning about. I'm such a dork, my spring break trip is to philly to see cadavers!:uhoh21:
I saw Body Worlds in Chicago over Labor Day weekend. It was truly awesome; croweded but awesome. The best part was the pregnant woman. You saw the fetus too. Make sure you don't miss that!
Hello, I attended the exhibit 3 times and could have gone another 3 or more.It is fascinating truly....The first time we left without being able to utter a word for quite a few minutes. It is really the only occasion where you will ever see the human body in its complete state as these are. I highly recommend this for any medical professional. You also will see organs in their healthy state and then in their diseased state. Also there are multiple exhibits of the brain and how they look after CVA, etc. I feel that no matter how well educated you are in these areas seeing one or two specimens is quite different than seeing this vast amount of human anatomy in person. I live in Los Angeles and the exhibit was here for well over 3 months.
I also saw it in Chicago and it was amazing! The shows going around are all slightly different, since each is a real body and can only be on display in one of the shows at a time. In Chicago, the version we had did display a pregnant woman with the uterus open to show her fetus, which I believe was 8 months along. They kept it in a differnt room of the gallery so people who didn't want to see it didn't have to. They also had embryos preserved to show stages of early fetal development, then babies of different gestational ages. It was upsetting to some people, so just be on the lookout for that. I thought it was fascinating, all of it.
There was even a horse as part of our display! My husband, who gets grossed out by most medical things, LOVED Body Worlds. It's not gory, just very very interesting.
Beware of the man holding his own skin. That was the only thing that gave me the hee-bee jee-bees.
The Body World Exhibit just began yesterday, March 10, at the Denver Museum. That's probably not close enough for you but just in case you had a long weekend or a couple days to spare you could come up to Colorado to check it out.
Someone who passed through my house went to Body Worlds, because I found a receipt to the exhibit on the floor of my room! It might have fallen out of a library book, because no one I know went to see it.
I totally agree with the comments that it is a very unique experience. Given the foundation that you now have to better understand the human body, it really makes you appreciate the exhibits all the more. Also, to Dutchgirl, thanks so much for the response about my lazy husband. I appreciate the thought.:icon_hug:
I saw Body Worlds twice while it was at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago... It was absolutely fascinating to me and all the people I saw it with, nurses and non-medical type people alike. It is definitely worth the money, and what a bonus to get extra credit as well!! Enjoy....:balloons:
You should definately go! It is so interesting. My Anatomy professor gave us extra credit to go to the exhibit when it was in Southern California. Unfortunately I went with some friends on the last weekend of the exhibit. The museum kept the exhibit open 24 hours a day for about 3 days, but it was still so, so crowded! It's interesting that you should mention the mother and the fetus, because during that last weekend some woman stoled the fetus from the exhibit. I have no idea why she would do something like that, but I guess they had it returned (???), I would have liked to see that. Anyways, you should definately go. I took friends that weren't in Anatomy or anything and they still found it so interesting! I suppose that some people would find it controversial, but we're pretty liberal in California. Oh, by the way, I actually went to Body Worlds 2, but I was told that there wasn't much difference. There was a similar exhibit in San Francisco that was more controversial though. Apparently the bodies that were "donated" were all of Asian descent. I guess that it is really uncommon for Asians to donate their bodies to science, so there was a question as to how the bodies were obtained. I can't remember the name of that exhibit, but it wasn't Body Worlds. Again, have fun and good luck in Anatomy.
You should definately go! It is so interesting. My Anatomy professor gave us extra credit to go to the exhibit when it was in Southern California. Unfortunately I went with some friends on the last weekend of the exhibit. The museum kept the exhibit open 24 hours a day for about 3 days, but it was still so, so crowded! It's interesting that you should mention the mother and the fetus, because during that last weekend some woman stoled the fetus from the exhibit. I have no idea why she would do something like that, but I guess they had it returned (???), I would have liked to see that. Anyways, you should definately go. I took friends that weren't in Anatomy or anything and they still found it so interesting! I suppose that some people would find it controversial, but we're pretty liberal in California. Oh, by the way, I actually went to Body Worlds 2, but I was told that there wasn't much difference. There was a similar exhibit in San Francisco that was more controversial though. Apparently the bodies that were "donated" were all of Asian descent. I guess that it is really uncommon for Asians to donate their bodies to science, so there was a question as to how the bodies were obtained. I can't remember the name of that exhibit, but it wasn't Body Worlds. Again, have fun and good luck in Anatomy.
What kind of person would steal the fetus? I wonder how they got it back?
I am very excited to go! There is also an option to see the Imax movie called The Body. Has anyone seen it? Is it worth the extra cost?
Kathyz
352 Posts
I saw Body Worlds in Chicago over Labor Day weekend. It was truly awesome; croweded but awesome. The best part was the pregnant woman. You saw the fetus too. Make sure you don't miss that!