Freaking out about Anatomy dissection...

We mainly worked on cats in A&P 2, but I did dissect rats in high school biology. It was kind of unsettling just because rats disgust me in general, but it is doable. What I basically did is dissociate from the big picture and focus on the smaller task at hand (for ex: don't dwell on the fact that you're poking around a large rodent, concentrate on whatever you're supposed to be looking for). With the cats, it was a little difficult because I thought of my own pets and they had these horrid expressions, but once everything was pinned back it was easy to get down to business and it was actually pretty interesting seeing how everything fit together.

We dissected fetal pigs...........I actually thought it was pretty neat! I mean I did think about the poor baby pig, but getting to see all the organs inside was a great learning experience! Good luck!

I dissected a rat in high school. All I remember is that the smell of it bothered me more that the actual dissection. My lab partner (6' 4'' football player) nearly passed out on me, so that left me no choice but to do it. As I recall, you are looking specifically for a few things. That's it. Just don't get wrapped up in what you're doing to what. Look at the bigger picture...how many hours of my life am I actually going to be looking at this rat.

For me, cats were more difficult. Yikes! I feel for you, believe me! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

We had to dissect cats. I'm a cat lover, so it was a bit hard on me at first. The part I hated the most was the beginning and when had to skin them...eeck! After that, it was not so bad. We got to see the cadavers toward the end of the semester, but didn't work on them. I also don't like the smell of formaldehyde (sp??)

Good luck...you'll be surprised what you'll see and learn. You can do it!! :)

We did rats. I was a little worried about it going in, but once I started focusing on what I was doing, I decided it was really cool. I was also worried about the smell that I remembered from HS biology, but they are using a new chemical that doesn't smell all that bad. Good luck.

I walked in the first day of class and told my professor "I will take a failing grade before I dissect a cat!"

His response "don't be so dramatic...dissection is optional"

Maybe you should talk to your prof if you feel strongly about it... or get a really agressive dissection partner that is happy to do the work :)

Good luck!

It's a funny world, itsn't it? I thought I was the weirdo because I'd rather see a human cadaver than dissect a cat, but now I've found out that I'm not alone! I actually got to study human cadavers in my anat and phys class which was neato! I also dissected a fetal pig, but that didn't bug me as much as a cat would have.

Honestly any kind of disection you get to do in A&P helps out TONS. I also find that once you get everything cut open you're more likely to see body parts, organs, learning fun instead of gee look a dead rat!

My college can't afford cadavers so we were primarily stuck with plastic models which aren't that great of a help. Some teachers used disection, but the teacher I had for A&P2 didn't and I think I didn't grasp the material quite as well.

Thanks everyone... I'm still a little unsure about the whole thing... It's really just the initial cutting I think that is bothering me... I'm wondering if someone else could do that part for me... I think I'd be fine after that...

We'll see... I start tomorrow night so I'll let you all know what the story is... Ewwwww.....

Will you be working with lab partners? I always got my lab partner to do the things I wasn't to sure about. Which almost always included the big sharp huntting knife as I'm a klutz and had visions of myself removing my fingers...