Cadaver Work

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I am in anatomy and we have been gifted a cadaver for the semester. Seeing the body was a tad rough at first, however I've grown to love the work that we do on him. What an amazing last gift that someone would donate their body to Science to help me become a nurse. I'm totally appreciative that I have been given this opportunity. Anyone else work with a cadaver in their anatomy class?

Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

When I took A&P back in 1988, we had a cadaver. Fast-forward to 2012, they made me re-take A&P because my credits were "too old". My 2012 classes were no where near as detailed as what I learned in the 80s. We only did dissection on cow & pig parts and it was optional.

I learned so much more from cadaver work. It was REAL, it made sense to take what was in the book and see it with your own eyes.

Yes, it's strange at first to know you're working with an actual human body. But you get over it and focus on learning. There were a few people who dropped the class because it freaked them out.

Glad you've got the opportunity!

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What an amazing opportunity! In my High School anatomy class we dissected a cat, but at my CC we didn't dissect anything! :(

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Our school (also a CC) had an AMAZING cadaver lab, with 4 cadavers! One was saved from the prior semester, already dissected, and 3 were new each semester. We each got to do a dissection with a partner. It was an amazing experience! I spent two semesters in the cadaver lab, and I got to see a variety of medical implants (including TWO different penile implants), artificial joints, a pacemaker, etc, plus liver cancer.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
I learned so much more from cadaver work. It was REAL, it made sense to take what was in the book and see it with your own eyes.

YES. Seeing everything in situ makes such a difference! Netter's is the only book I've found that comes anywhere close to offering what a cadaver can, but there's nothing like being able to peel back the patella and examine the knee ligaments and menisci and how they all move together.

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akulahawk, I also noticed a difference between our male and female cadaver's. Women indeed carry a higher essential fat % than men. Our guy had so little fat that we were able to quickly move beyond removing the adipose (fat), so that we could see the muscles. The class with the female cadaver spent far greater time cutting away her fat.

I've read quite a bit about the use of cadaver's and it sounds like they are making a come back as classes shift away from virtual learning and back cadaver's!

I don't know if a student can be forced to work with the cadaver's, however a student tried to get out of it, and our professor pushed back. It is kind of expected that we will dissect. The cadaver's are in a room next to our class, and we are able to walk in, view, touch, and then dissect 1x per week (we have to complete a minimum of 2 hours).

Thanks for all the great comments!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
akulahawk, I also noticed a difference between our male and female cadaver's. Women indeed carry a higher essential fat % than men. Our guy had so little fat that we were able to quickly move beyond removing the adipose (fat), so that we could see the muscles. The class with the female cadaver spent far greater time cutting away her fat.

I've read quite a bit about the use of cadaver's and it sounds like they are making a come back as classes shift away from virtual learning and back cadaver's!

I don't know if a student can be forced to work with the cadaver's, however a student tried to get out of it, and our professor pushed back. It is kind of expected that we will dissect. The cadaver's are in a room next to our class, and we are able to walk in, view, touch, and then dissect 1x per week (we have to complete a minimum of 2 hours).

Thanks for all the great comments!

In our class, you were required to do the dissection and to work with the cadavers as part of the anatomy course. If you couldn't handle it, you couldn't pass the course. The cadavers were part of the lab exams.

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RunbabyRun, You are totally correct. Now that I think of it, the cadaver's are pinned during our practical/lab exam's. We actually need them to answer exam questions. :)

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We had cadavers. Two of them in fact. My most notable memory is that after that A/P class, it was years before I could eat a pot roast again. (The pickled, human gluteus maximus looks like a well-done pot roast.)

Funny story--one of the professors (according to his account) had to pick up a cadaver at the airport, which was 70 miles away. He was without a "discreet" transport vehicle, so he had to strap the body (in the body bag) to the roof of his car. Flying down the interstate with the force of the wind perfectly outlining the contents of the bag, and yup, he got more than a few horrified looks from the occupants of other vehicles.

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We had two cadavers. In fact if you did not mind staying after class my anatomy professor would allow students to help dissect the new cadavers. Although I think they are a great learning tool I never volunteered to stay after and help :barf02:. We also used them for exams, our professor would tag different anatomical parts and we would need to identify them.

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Specializes in Eventually Midwifery.
I got to see a variety of medical implants (including TWO different penile implants

OMG seriously HILARIOUS!!! I was unaware that penile implants were so popular that by chance you saw 2 different ones on cadavers LOL

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Wow! It's good for you to have worked with a cadaver.

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I have been to two cc that had cadavers. Both however we were only able to observe and touch for one day before they were returned.

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