What Do You Do in "Labs" with A&P

Annaiya, NP · Apr 6, 2007

My A&P were on-line classes, so we did a lot of drawing of the different parts of the body. We also had to go to some interactive websites that would simulate looking at things under a microscope and had to report what settings were used and what we saw. And then we always had a lot of practical questions we had to work through and answer. The labs were really time consuming, but you learn a ton from them. I'm a practical learner, so I think A&P would have been much harder for me without the labs to demonstrate what we were learning.

donsterRN, ASN, BSN · Apr 6, 2007

We did/do a lot of work with microscopes and slides, then we worked up to the anatomical dissection of the cat, eye, heart and brain. Our labs are very hand-on and incredibly fun!

Stubbleuffagus · Apr 6, 2007

We dissected a sheep brain and heart as well as the fetal pig. We did a lot with mircoscopes, and looking at various slides. We did blood typing and urnine analysis. It's fun! But the lab practicals can be brutal

danh3190 · Apr 7, 2007

In A&P 1 we did a lot with models, e.g. looking at the different bones and muscles. We dissected a sheep heart. The lab exams could be kind of challenging, but weren't all that bad. We also looked at a lot of blood cells under the microscope which was fun. We did blood typing and hematocrit in Microbiology for some strange reason.

In A&P 2 we dissected a sheep brain, sheep eye, a sheep kidney, and a sheep heart again. We also dissected a cat, mainly to examine the GI system. We were also supposed to examine the cat's GU system, but that didn't go too well as we couldn't get through the pelvic bones very well. The brain and eye were pretty interesting.

moongirl · Apr 7, 2007

slides- histology, dissection of brain, lung, kidney, heart, eyeball then the doozy, total cat. Muscles, then lymph glands, urinary, digestive, reproductive.. kinda hard to dissect around a cats winky and not accidentally cut it off

Achoo!, LPN · Apr 7, 2007

I have a lab assistant for the A&P II class for 5 semesters. We have a cadaver and several organ specimens from previous cadavers. We study each organ system sepearately , and then for tests pin the various landmarks for identification.

mammaoftwo · Apr 8, 2007

In A&P 1 we did a lot with models, e.g. looking at the different bones and muscles. We dissected a sheep heart. The lab exams could be kind of challenging, but weren't all that bad. We also looked at a lot of blood cells under the microscope which was fun. We did blood typing and hematocrit in Microbiology for some strange reason.
In A&P 2 we dissected a sheep brain, sheep eye, a sheep kidney, and a sheep heart again. We also dissected a cat, mainly to examine the GI system. We were also supposed to examine the cat's GU system, but that didn't go too well as we couldn't get through the pelvic bones very well. The brain and eye were pretty interesting.

A cat?? Did it still have it's fur and skin? OMG, I can't imagine dissecting a cat! I'm ok with the other things, but a cat??? This has just freaked me out!:uhoh21: I don't think I could do a cat at all.

kro9834 · Apr 8, 2007

It'll be OK...I understand how you feel about dissecting cats completely. I have 4 cats that I love dearly, so I thought A & P dissecting cats would be the worst thing I ever had to do. Actually, it turned out to be very informative after I got over the initial fear. The similarities between humans and cats is astonishing to say the least. YOU CAN DO IT!

moongirl · Apr 8, 2007

A cat?? Did it still have it's fur and skin? OMG, I can't imagine dissecting a cat! I'm ok with the other things, but a cat??? This has just freaked me out!:uhoh21: I don't think I could do a cat at all.

:) . they handed us a whole cat in a bag, we even had to skin it.

danh3190 · Apr 8, 2007

Yeah, we got the cat in a bag too.

Our instructor made it optional as it upset some of us.

It kind of bothered me too but I learned a lot, and it wasn't really that bad, once you focus on the task at hand. Sounds crazy but we felt really grateful to that cat.

Pumpkin1621 · Apr 8, 2007

I have a lab assistant for the A&P II class for 5 semesters. We have a cadaver and several organ specimens from previous cadavers. We study each organ system sepearately , and then for tests pin the various landmarks for identification.

You guys are getting me all excited! I can't wait to take A&P! I took A&P in high school and we disected a frog, fetal pig, and a worm (boring!). So exciting. We got extra credit if we were able to remove the brain from the pig without damaging it. LOL

God I hope at my school we get to work on a cadaver. Just like they do in medical school... *Sigh* So exciting!