What did/do you dissect in A&P lab?

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I'm just curious to find out what you guys dissect(ed) in lab.

Thanks!

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Cats.

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In my high school A&P we did cow hearts, cats and fetal pigs. This semester in A&P1 it seems that we'll definitely be doing fetal pigs (as our lab manual is the pig version), but we don't start until next week and don't have a professor yet--so I have no idea what else is going to be included!

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Specializes in Operating Room.

We dissected a cat, fetal pig heart, and kidney.

We also went to an anatomical gift registry where we were able to explore a cadaver, see different bones, muscles, etc., as well as a healthy heart vs. a diseased heart (and smokers' lungs, cirrhotic liver, etc.). Our cadaver donor had died of a stroke, had atherosclerosis, and was a smoker for many years. They also did an eye dissection for us which was really creepy to stand and watch, but neat nonetheless. It really helped solidify the fact that I did learn something throughout my two semesters of A&P. That was, without a doubt, the most fascinating part of my undergraduate studies thus far.

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I will be working on cadavers. My school is very fortunate to have quite a few donors for us to work on. Is it weird that I'm super excited to get my hands in there?

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I also got to do cadavers. No animals... since it was a human A&P course.

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In Biology, baby pigs. We did not do dissections in A&P 1, but I understand there are 5 in A&P 2. I'm not sure if it will be a cadaver or something else. I do know our school has cadavers because the mortuary science class used to use the same room I took Algebra in.... We came in right as they were leaving.

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In A&P1 we dissected a cat.... in A&P2 we dissected a sheep brain. There were supposed to be more but for some reason that's all we got to do.

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Specializes in Hospice.

We had cats that had been euthanized in shelters. :( As an animal advocate it was rather heartbreaking. People were like "They gave their lives for science." Um, no, they didn't, they were murdered because somewhere along the line some ignorant jerk didn't spay/neuter their cat/s. I would prefer the human cadaver, who did in fact donate their body for the purpose of study. That's just me, and this is why I am not a veterinarian. But you do it, regardless of whatever they put in front of you to study, because that's why you are there.

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Cow eye, fetal pig esophagus/lungs/trachea, sheep kidney and brain.

During my physiology segment I was recommended for and chosen to participate in my school's cadaver prosection class and I took it concurrently with my other classes. Not only did we dissect the entire body (including using a medical saw on the skull to extract the brain!), but we also had to learn surgical procedures to demonstrate for a health expo our school was throwing for hundreds of high schoolers. We had Army surgeons come in and train us. I was assigned to demonstrate an appendectomy and a cholescystectomy.

It was an amazing experience. If your school has something for you to apply to like that, I would go for it. It really helped with my learning. The fact is, book diagrams only help so much. Many times I'd be dissecting our cadaver and say, "Ohhh, so THAT'S where it is/what it looks like!"

It's also a very fancy thing to have on your transcript or resume for nursing school applications. :)

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Nothing. I dissected a cat way back in high school anatomy but dissection was not a part of anatomy or physiology at my college.

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Cow's eye and sheep's heart

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com, so please understand my typos.

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