anatomy dissection morgue?

May 28, 2008: My first day of Gross Anatomy. We began the day by taking a pre-test, which will potentially be similar to the eventual final exam. Dr. Smith just wanted to see what we already knew. After this grueling 100 question exam that really made me second guess my decision to go to grad. school, it was off to the Anatomy lab...

I knew going into this thing we were going to dissect cadavers, but I did not know what to expect. As the 150 or so students started making their way down to the lab, it was dead quiet (no pun intended) going down the stair well to the basement. I was simply following the crowd when I looked up and saw a sign "Anatomy Morgue Dissection Lab" pointing straight ahead. Now, did they really have to encompass the word "Morgue" on this sign? If I their was anything calm within me at this point, it was then gone.

I went by the list of what "tank" I would be at and my name was not on the list. The closest thing to my name was Brenda Simpson. After much debate, I decided I would to go to this tank and see if one of my relatives was there. And if not, I would know the teacher had miswritten my name? I waited until the last possible minute, put my latex gloves on and walked into the "morgue."

As I made my way to tank 17, The smell of alcohol and formaldehyde filled my nostrils. The room seemed a bit hazy and was freezing cold. Once again, the room was silent, until Dr. Smith started giving instructions on how to raise the body up from the cow trough like metal tank, without getting splashed. As we opened the top, raised the body, and removed the covering from our cadaver, several students around the room passed out from the sight (my group took it like champs).

Finally, when the initial shock ceased, we took care of some sanitary precautions and learned how to treat our cadaver with the utmost respect. As we were getting ready to leave, our teacher made one final announcement to the class:

"Good luck not having a dream about your cadaver tonight!"