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[ms_turtle]

2. Students who have moral objections to dissections should not take courses which require dissection; there is NO substitute for hands-on lab, the virtuals are not the same.

Unless the course is required to graduate, or to graduate with honors. It's not my fault that the honors program at my uni required this course. ;)

Pre-med or med students opposed to dissection is a different debate, but many lower-level lab classes are still required for graduation, even if you're a social science major. So I say (again), please do consider alternatives for your students. If you are grossed out, freaked out, or simply dreading the idea of dissection, chances are your students are, too, and some of them may have ethical objections to the practice.

I think the appropriate solution here (although not a change an individual professor can make) is to change the gen-ed requirements. 
Actually, I think it is quite rare for a university to require all students to take anatomy (or zoology); most of the time those courses are only required for the majors that require them - in which case there is a good reason that students need to do all of the lab work.
It seems to be that a better option for a gen-ed requirement is to allow a different biology course, such as botony or microbiology, to count for the biology requirement, rather than changing something rather fundamental to an anatomy lab.

It should be noted that the OP's course, A & P, is not a gen ed course. It's core group of students are going into health professions (e.g., nursing, physical therapist assistants, etc.), exercise science, nutrition, public health administration, etc. We do not require dissections in our non-majors biology program which fulfills the gen ed requirements for students majoring outside the sciences.

[unspoiled]

Although you should tell the students not to make inappropriate jokes, I wouldn't be to harsh with them on this point - many are just trying to cover for there own discomfort/squeamishness.

Agreed. As I mentioned in my post, people who do so do it mostly because it's a way of easing their own anxiety.

In my experience however it wasn't just the students who made the inappropriate jokes, although the immature students certainly did their part: it was often the technical staff in charge of preservation/carry-over from year to year of specimens, and (albeit rarely) some of the more cynical instructors.

[phlegmatic]

2. Students who have moral objections to dissections should not take courses which require dissection; there is NO substitute for hands-on lab, the virtuals are not the same.

Unless the course is required to graduate, or to graduate with honors. It's not my fault that the honors program at my uni required this course. ;)

Pre-med or med students opposed to dissection is a different debate, but many lower-level lab classes are still required for graduation, even if you're a social science major. So I say (again), please do consider alternatives for your students. If you are grossed out, freaked out, or simply dreading the idea of dissection, chances are your students are, too, and some of them may have ethical objections to the practice.

I think the appropriate solution here (although not a change an individual professor can make) is to change the gen-ed requirements. 
Actually, I think it is quite rare for a university to require all students to take anatomy (or zoology); most of the time those courses are only required for the majors that require them - in which case there is a good reason that students need to do all of the lab work.
It seems to be that a better option for a gen-ed requirement is to allow a different biology course, such as botony or microbiology, to count for the biology requirement, rather than changing something rather fundamental to an anatomy lab.

Yes, that would have been great if I could have taken a different course. This was just a Biology II class, and lab/dissection was only one part of it, but it was a requirement for me to graduate / with honors.

I'm gonna bow out now since I have absolutely no business talking about upper-level, non-gen-ed science requirements. Well, other than the fact that I still oppose the use of animals...  :)

[unspoiled]

The smell is the worst part.  some things that help are, draining excess preservatives into a container with a lid to reduce fumes, ventilation (fans if your windows don't open), and ordering only as many as you need for the semester.  "Leftovers" work fine, but stink more.  Make sure students put their waste tissues into a lidded container.  Don't let anyone use air freshener.  The only thing worse than nauseating smells is cherry-scented nauseating smells.

Chime on leaving dissection coat in lab.  

When possible, I get specimens from the grocery store (crayfish, clams, etc.).  They're non-stinky (when fresh), and look and feel more like live specimens.  You should take them directly to the dumpster.

Keeping the head and paws covered may help.  You don't want those tissues to dry out anyway, so the moist paper towels can keep tissues moist, Keep fumes down, and hide the more disturbing parts.

-+LR

Yes, the smell is the worst part.  That smell, pervasive over the years, getting into one's lab coat, the clothing beneath, into one's hair sometimes.  

I mentioned the locker option for the lab coat, gloves and instruments because I didn't have that option in med school (continental Europe).  If possible, launder lab coats at work/school (yes, one of the universities I was affiliated with in the US doing a M.S. offered that wonderful option) or drop them off straight at the cleaner's.  

Hair should be worn short or worn pulled back/away from the face (ponytails, braids, whatever).  I think it's acceptable to ask students, in a considerate manner of course, to cooperate in this regard during dissections. It's a minor courtesy that works to everybody's major benefit.  

Agree on the counter-productivity of air freshener use (cherry-scented or otherwise) in this context.  It goes toward a concept I've been keen on in my previous posts - the triggering and strengthening of offensive associations.  It's like taking medicine with raspberry syrup. Before you know it, the sight of raspberry syrup alone will nauseate you.  

Drying out of the specimen is indeed a major consideration everywhere.  Encourage students to be diligent and make the most of it during the first half of the semester.

Overall, it's as much a rite of passage as any other as far as some professions are concerned.  

[ls410]

This thread reminded me of my high school A&P class where we dissected a cat.  I love cats and was nervous at first but as others said, once the fur was off I didn't have any problems.  But - I was not strong enough to actually remove the fur (nor was my lab partner).  So I would suggest preparing yourself for assisting your students with the skinning.

[llanfair]

This thread reminded me of my high school A&P class where we dissected a cat.  I love cats and was nervous at first but as others said, once the fur was off I didn't have any problems.  But - I was not strong enough to actually remove the fur (nor was my lab partner).  So I would suggest preparing yourself for assisting your students with the skinning.

This still seems odd to me; the lab-supply company skinned them before we ever saw them.  I take it most don't work that way?

[ms_turtle]

This thread reminded me of my high school A&P class where we dissected a cat.  I love cats and was nervous at first but as others said, once the fur was off I didn't have any problems.  But - I was not strong enough to actually remove the fur (nor was my lab partner).  So I would suggest preparing yourself for assisting your students with the skinning.

This still seems odd to me; the lab-supply company skinned them before we ever saw them.  I take it most don't work that way?

It costs extra.

[homelessscientist]

So I would suggest preparing yourself for assisting your students with the skinning.

Thank goodness, I'm not a biologist, and I can feel smug in knowing that atoms do not feel pain from being ionized.  However, it was my understanding that mink for dissection are byproducts of the fur industry; you get what's left after they're removed the valuable pelt.

[llanfair]

Thank goodness, I'm not a biologist, and I can feel smug in knowing that atoms do not feel pain from being ionized. 

Are you sure about that?

[mystictechgal]

So I would suggest preparing yourself for assisting your students with the skinning.

Thank goodness, I'm not a biologist, and I can feel smug in knowing that atoms do not feel pain from being ionized.  However, it was my understanding that mink for dissection are byproducts of the fur industry; you get what's left after they're removed the valuable pelt.

I think that's doubtful.  If true, then the industry is doing you a real favor.  Like chinchilla's, the only portion of the mink that is generally used in the fur industry is a narrow strip that runs down the middle of the back from the base of the neck to the top of the tail.  And, some real a$$hat figured out that keeping blood flow to the hairs as long as possible increases their retention in the resulting pelt, so the strip taken is usually removed while the animal is alive (of course, it dies later).  I'm not too sure that anyone in the fur business is going to spend time later going back to finish the skinning and sending the animals out with only that strip missing would undoubtedly be bad for PR.  My guess is that these are either bred specifically for laboratories, or are minks whose pelt is suboptimal for the fur industry.

[ms_turtle]

My guess is that these are either bred specifically for laboratories, or are minks whose pelt is suboptimal for the fur industry.

Yes, most of them do have suboptimal fur quality.

[homelessscientist]

Thank goodness, I'm not a biologist, and I can feel smug in knowing that atoms do not feel pain from being ionized. 

Are you sure about that?

100% :-)

[veleda]

OP here:

Yay for me! I did it! I survived the first week of dissection. Unbelievable. Breakthrough moment.

Thank you all so much for being so helpful. I reviewed all your tips and passed many of them on to my students. The mink were skinned, but you're right, there was a lot of fat and juice. But it was OK.

I did practice, also, as some of you suggested. I observed another professor's lab a few weeks ago, and she ended up doing all the work while her students just stood by and watched or wandered about. But my students were so freakin' awesome. They were just so serious and careful and they hung in there for the full three hour lab with no breaks and just worked with incredible focus.

There were a few who were uncomfortable at first, but I gave them tasks that kept them on the periphery initially and they gradually worked their way in and did some of the hands-on work too. So it was awesome. They even took pictures with their phones to show their kids (I have quite a few parents in my class. One student told me the first thing her daughter said when she woke up that morning was "Mommy, it's dissection day!".)

I can't wait until next week's lab.

[bioteacher]

Congratulations on a successful lab. I had problems doing dissections at first, but once I got past it, I found the experience to be invaluable in understanding how animal bodies worked. I once toured a med school gross anatomy lab. It was amazing to see the bodies and get insights to how amazing our systems truly are. All of my dissection experience made me appreciate my own body more. I suspect that will be true for many of your students as well.

You set the tone for making the lab work today. And letting students who were uncertain ease their way in was very sensitive and appropriate. Good for you!

[llanfair]

That's great, Veleda! Your students will look back on the whole thing as a positive experience.  Congratulations!