Wants to see the big picture of digestion

[mario_ragucci]

My school used to work with cadavers, but no more. For the last year and a half, I have taken every A&P class to get into the nursing program, and as you know...I made it:)

I have come a very long way in my understanding of the human body, from A&P, to microbiology, to ethics and I know there is so much more ahead of me. But something is missing. Though I have seen excellent illustrations and computer graphics of the human body, and even disected parts of pigs and sheep (terrible smell), I don't know what the inside of a human looks like, really looks like. Now yall might phreak out that I am even mentioning this, but I have found that I am especially interested in human digestion, in particular. I love to learn about all the body systems, but something about how we turn food into energy really interests me.

I want to see an autopsy, especially one that will remove all the parts of the GI tract (the whole thing). Are there videos? Can you go to a morgue and ask to watch? I feel funny asking this, but I hope someone can advise me here, or point me in a direction, because I really want to see all I have been learning about as it is. Anybody? Too bad humans don't have x-ray vision, we hafta make do with visable light. Superman - where are you?

[yipididit]

Squirrel! You are good! Even I understood that one.:chuckle

Mario,

Personally, my facination is with the heart! I will tell you, when I am cooking chicken, I always look for the heart. It is like the coolest new toy on the market. (I remember in high school disecting one). To make a long story short, it is not nice to assume your children will have the same amazement about a disected chicken heart that you do!

Maybe they switched babies on me?

[babynurselsa, RN]

Mario,

Do you bave a med school near you?

If so check with some of your classmates and see how many might be interested in viewing the cadaver lab. Then call and speak to the professor over it and see if you can arrange a toour.

My husband is a paramedic and one of the education guys arranged a visit to the local Med school here. I tagged along for curiosity and hte Prof was sooo cool. He showd us several of the bodies that his students were working on took one apart and showed us all of the bits and pieces. It was very very interesting. but, no the smeel hasn't gotten any better.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

That project is called the "Visible Human Project" by the National Library of Medicine. You have several options from 2D slices to 3D Java applets. Do a search for Visible Human.

Frankly I'd just call pathology and ask them to notify you of a time you can attend an autopsy. Usually they comply unless it's a forensic case.

P

[Jen911]

I completely lucked out when I was in nursing school. I was working for the Sheriff's Office, and when we had a suspicious death, the Sheriff's Office had to have a representative at the autopsy. Well, I asked one day if I was eligible to be that representative (even though I was just a Dispatcher), and the Sheriff gladly said "sure!" and off I went to watch an autopsy.

The pathologist was awesome! I told him who I was, and that I was a nursing student. He handed me a gown and gloves, told me anything I was interested in, just "dig on in and see what you want and ask any questions you feel you want to know!" He let me touch everything, feel the textures, see how heavy everything was, and how everything fit together. And as he did his case, he explained every single piece of anatomy as he took it out, never thought twice about it. I was totally impressed, and would do it again in a heartbeat (pardon the pun)... hehe

[KC CHICK]

Mario,

FORGET CADAVERS!!! Go observe some General open abdomen surgeries...you'll see everything. It's absolutely amazing to see what human anatomy looks like in "living color". Not only that....the intestines are usually functioning even though the patient is under anesthesia...you can see the peristalsis in action.

Most surgeons love to teach and show off how much they know. Check around at hospitals where your school has contracts to see if you can observe for a day or two.

Anne;)

[mario_ragucci]

I just took my first baby step by finally, after getting my CNA license and looking around, applying at one of the big hospitals here in PDX for a "recovery room" position. Once I am "in" I would do a summersault to be able to actually see peristalsis during such a operation.

By the way, this was the first job i applied for that was all computerized. Everything.