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[madhatter]

Save the coats!

[barred_owl]

Save the coats!

Now that's my funny anatomy story!  But, I will refrain from sharing it here. 

[unspoiled]

Save the coats!

Now that's the first scoop of dissection-related humor we were so rigidly trying to prevent. 

[scampster]

- It is ok to talk about how the specimen is prepared for preservation and dissection. The techniques for latex injection (highlighting the arterial and venous vessels) and formalin fixation are quite interesting.

I've always been curious about how they get the veins red and blue, but I am too squeamish to actually google it, because I am afraid of what links I will have to sort through to find the answer...

When I was young, I wasn't squeamish about this stuff at all (sixth grade frogs and fetal pigs were not an issue), but as I got older it started to affect me more. Fortunately I figured this out before I decided to major in a biological science in college :-) What got me the worst though was the worm in high school. I still gag thinking about it. But I have an unnaturally high revulsion of worms.

[madhatter]

Save the coats!

Now that's the first scoop of dissection-related humor we were so rigidly trying to prevent. 

This is why they don't let me mingle with polite company.

[inthelab]

Save the coats!

Aw, i wanted 'em.
What color mink?  Tourmaline looks particularly good on me.

[barred_owl]

- It is ok to talk about how the specimen is prepared for preservation and dissection. The techniques for latex injection (highlighting the arterial and venous vessels) and formalin fixation are quite interesting.

I've always been curious about how they get the veins red and blue, but I am too squeamish to actually google it, because I am afraid of what links I will have to sort through to find the answer...

When I was young, I wasn't squeamish about this stuff at all (sixth grade frogs and fetal pigs were not an issue), but as I got older it started to affect me more. Fortunately I figured this out before I decided to major in a biological science in college :-) What got me the worst though was the worm in high school. I still gag thinking about it. But I have an unnaturally high revulsion of worms.

This just reminded me--I used to live in a town that was home to a biological supply company.  Many of the undergrad bio majors at the local uni. were employed there as specimen preparators, which is not the sort of work that one imagines undergrads doing, I suppose.

The most interesting dissection I ever did was of pigeons that had been put down just before lab--no injections, no preservatives.  It was a vastly different experience than working on preserved specimens, especially when we encountered the intestinal parasites that hadn't been affected by the CO2 treatment.  A little off-putting at first, but fascinating nevertheless.

[veleda]

I'm so glad now that I posted. I've been debating it for days, but was feeling like a wimp and thought I'd get yelled at.

Seriously, thanks, you've been so helpful. It's reassuring to hear that some of you have also had to psych yourself up. These are great tips. I think I've been fixating too much on the "little dead animal" thing. I need to be thinking "specimen". Also, yes, absolutely, I need to practice, so I'll see what I can do to make that happen next week.

I can do this, I can do this....

[ms_turtle]

- It is ok to talk about how the specimen is prepared for preservation and dissection. The techniques for latex injection (highlighting the arterial and venous vessels) and formalin fixation are quite interesting.

I've always been curious about how they get the veins red and blue, but I am too squeamish to actually google it, because I am afraid of what links I will have to sort through to find the answer...

When I was young, I wasn't squeamish about this stuff at all (sixth grade frogs and fetal pigs were not an issue), but as I got older it started to affect me more. Fortunately I figured this out before I decided to major in a biological science in college :-) What got me the worst though was the worm in high school. I still gag thinking about it. But I have an unnaturally high revulsion of worms.

When you open the bag and remove the specimen, you will find an injection site in the thigh region. Depending on the technician's skill and patience, the latex dye can be mechanically "pushed" into the vessel system of the euthanized specimen (requires patience and skill as too forceful of the push can burst the vessels) or gravity is used to pull the latex dye through the vessel system (requires patience). Specimens can be single, double, or triple injection to reveal the arterial; arterial and venous; or arterial (red), venous (blue), and portal (yellow) systems respectively.

This just reminded me--I used to live in a town that was home to a biological supply company.  Many of the undergrad bio majors at the local uni. were employed there as specimen preparators, which is not the sort of work that one imagines undergrads doing, I suppose.

The most interesting dissection I ever did was of pigeons that had been put down just before lab--no injections, no preservatives.  It was a vastly different experience than working on preserved specimens, especially when we encountered the intestinal parasites that hadn't been affected by the CO2 treatment.  A little off-putting at first, but fascinating nevertheless.

Life colors of recently euthanized specimens are fabulous!

[inthelab]

I can do this, I can do this....

I had to learn to dissect mice and other lab critters for my grad school experiments; I just did them because I had to.  It got easier over time. 

[gennimom]

In high school, formaldehyde and my stomach didn't mix. It was a struggle to make it through dissections. My biology teacher was amazed at the things I later did in college without problems. I mean, I did all kinds of neat dissections and then took a slaughter class. Nothing like standing in line waiting for access to the scales holding a set of lungs in one hand and a heart in the other from a sheep that was alive just 30 minutes before. I still have the skin from it. Was a great story to tell at the lunch table to gross out obnoxious guys...

[ms_turtle]

Nothing like standing in line waiting for access to the scales holding a set of lungs in one hand and a heart in the other from a sheep that was alive just 30 minutes before.

If you ever consider entering a contest for the most unusual opening sentence to a novel, use the above.


Edited to add: most biological supply companies have developed formaldehyde free preservatives. The smell is a lot better, but the preservatives are not as good in mold prevention.

[protoprof]

 

I'm wondering if your ease of doing human cadaver work is the respect the donations are given compared to the animals which are euthanized and supplied by a company.  In my opinion, your squeamishness, vegatarianism and overall respect for animals that's making this difficult for you is a huge asset as opposed to more callous instructors who see the specimins as a product to be used.  Your empathy for your students who are doing this for the first time will be great.

Here's a link to a documentary from CBC radio in Canada.  It's about human body donation to universities. I thought the portion of this doc that deals with how the students are prepared (e.g.: no crude jokes, proper decorum and language) might be helpful even though you have experience of this as a student yourself.

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2008/200807/20080730.html

I think it's also available as a podcast on iTunes under the programme "The Current".  The title of the doc is "The Silent Teacher".

[gennimom]

Nothing like standing in line waiting for access to the scales holding a set of lungs in one hand and a heart in the other from a sheep that was alive just 30 minutes before.

If you ever consider entering a contest for the most unusual opening sentence to a novel, use the above.


Edited to add: most biological supply companies have developed formaldehyde free preservatives. The smell is a lot better, but the preservatives are not as good in mold prevention.

Sounds like a plan!

[scampster]

Thanks Ms T for the explanation!