Cadaver Lab!

[ratul]

We had a great class last night! Thanks to a nearby university, my massage class was able to view and handle a cadaver (in said university's Sports Medicine Cadaver Lab). We were all a little nervous, but it was invaluable to actually see the structures, touch them, and watch how they moved with the skeleton.

Our Anatomy teacher came along for the ride, and since the Sports Medicine class was finished with the cadaver, he was allowed to further disect different structures. Fascinating!

I was curious - how common is it to have this experience in massage school? I assumed it was pretty uncommon, so I ignored my latex allergy and donned the gloves so I could get in there. I wasn't going to miss the opportunity! My hands pretty much recovered now (it was worth the itching for the experience).

It was rough on some of us, though. Lots of headaches from the smell. A few had to leave the room a time or two. I think we have a couple of new vegetarians in the class too...

But anyway, we're all going as a class this summer to Charlotte to see Bodyworlds. I've heard it is amazing. They have a web site http://www.bodyworlds.com, but it doesn't show much unfortunately. Has anyone been to the exibit (it travels around), and was it good?

Thanks,

Kemilyna

 

[Pompal 09.]

That's a fantastic opportunity. I can tell you with a definitive NO that it's not a common thing, at least here in my area, to be able to see a cadaver. I believe you'd have to sign up for a special class at an entirely different school. I'm not sure I could have handled it while I was in school.. so congratulations on your, er, strong stomach!

I have, however, just seen Bodyworlds here in Dallas and I can tell you it's fantastic. I think it's a must see for everyone, everywhere, all ages. Each show is probably slightly different, since not all uh, pieces are displayed at any one location. (oy, what a choice of words) Otherwise, it's amazing- being privy to stuff only doctors have been able to see. And trust me, if you smoke, you'll quit.

 

[aamirzz]

oooh this bodyworlds sounds fascinating - I want to see it! But the above link isn't working for me... I will have to google it.

 

[mukeshgupta]

This link should work:
http://www.bodyworlds.com

I saw it, and have mixed opinions. The dissection was amazing, and seeing the muscles, nervous system, and arterial system was truly educational.

However, I felt some of the displays were more egotistical on the part of the Dr. and some of the displays seemed just plain sensationalist. Nonetheless, I am glad I went, and overall, would recommend the show.

We did not have a cadaver lab in MT school, but there is one offered nearby each year designed specifically for bodyworkers. It is fairly inexpensive, too: $100 for a 3 hour lab.

I was fortunate to work in a medical school before I went to MT school, and did get invited to the cadaver lab one day. Even then, it was a great experience. I would love to do that again now that I know more about the body.

 

[Rachiebaby]

thanks palpable - the link worked that time! am checking it out now...

 

[Char]

I was blessed to attend a massage school where one of our anatomy and physiology instructors was, by day, a professor of a & p at a university medical school. For a fee all interested students within each class grouping could take cadaver lab at the university medical school cadaver lab. IT WAS SO ULTRA-SUPER COOL!!!! The class I was in was so awed by the generosity of the individuals who donated their bodies to the school and all the really cool stuff we got to see and experience in our first lab that we bugged the poor fellow until he helped us have a second cadaver lab that was only for the internal organs and central nervous system...... One of the senior med students had spent literally 8 months totally dissecting the entire central nervous system - eyes, brain, spinal cord, equina cauda, etc. When he pulled that collection of nerves, etc out of the pickle bucket full of formaldehyde, my lab partner nearly fainted, but it was so darned cool!!!

It definitely isn't the norm, and, it also, in the med school setting, isn't for the faint of heart or stomach! We were even allowed to do blunt tool dissection on the coins of fat within the omentum, and to handle organs, etc. YEA!!!!!!

 

[Joel]

Our school is offering it as a "Field-Trip" that you pay for. I talked to the class and about two people other than myself are actually going to go. I'm excited, and a bit nervous though!

 

[Yourasssmells.]

Kemilyna, that's a truly great opportunity your school has provided. I'm so glad to hear something positive about your program. With your having to deal with high turnover of staff (coordinators & instructors), as well as teachers who don't seem to know the material, and very limited self-care instruction (as your teacher's non-response to your classmate's tendonitis showed), I've been worried about you and all of your classmates. Maybe things are looking up for y'all! Your letter to the coordinator was a good start; and the cadaver lab is a definite checkmark in the positive column.

Congratulations to you for making the most of the cadaver lab opportunity. Latex gloves & all!

 

[maxiumus]

It's great hearing all of your experiences, and I feel even more fortunate now to have had the cadaver experience!

I hate that I have been so negative about my school experience. While the program has certainly had its share (and more) of problems, it has its good points too. The cadaver lab, for one, was invaluable. We have an absolutely awesome A & P teacher who _loves_ LOVES the subject matter. You should have seen him in that lab - like a kid in a candy store! The tuition is low - I've put about $3000.00 into the program and will probably put only $250 more before it's over - that's including supplies and books, table and all. An INCREDIBLE bargain. But, that doesn't mean if I had it to do over again I wouldn't choose to spend the $8-15,000.00 for other programs I looked into. Hindsight is 20/20 - you know how they say.

As for my classmate with tendonitis, she is afraid she will have to drop out of the program. She may have to have surgery.

Oh, well, I'm a firm believer that I'm where I am for a reason. The issues we've had have caused me to grow leaps and bounds in ways that will certainly benefit me as a Massage Therapist.

 

[cajunboy09]

I am still contemplating taking a cadaver class (had no opportunity in school), but I did go to Bodyworlds when it was in Philadelphia. It was amazing!

 

[yotu]

I'm going to school at a community college. For the LMT certificate program we have to take two A&P classes with cadavers. For the Certificate/AAS degree we have to take three.

I don't take my first one until fall. I'm a little nervous about it. But since I've been learning human structure & function my feelings about it are kind of changing. I'm not 'disgusted' anymore by the body. I'm more fascinated by it.

 

[Pippin]

I'm so jealous!

I'm still looking for an accessible cadaver lab class to get into. My local community college offers anatomy classes, but I'm not sure if they have access to cadavers, and I would have to take bio classes as prerequisites. which I would love to do, but that's a whooole nother time investment! will take restructuring.

 

[sandy123]

I went to UCMT in utah. The anatomy class had a series of field trips to the cadaver lab at the University of Utah. It's going on 4 years since I graduated but if I remember correctly it was around 5 or 6 sessions in the labs. Mostly looking & some touching no actual dissection.

Very interesting stuff.

 

[lizaleong]

With the course that we did in Australia we got at least 2 sessions in the cadaver lab at Newcastle Uni. I was absolutely fantastic to see the muscles etc in 3D and would reccomend it to anyone that gets a chance to go. Also i know 1 of the massage associations here also holds a cadaver day at least once a year for CEU credits

Tim

 

[ray- b]

I guess we are lucky, my school has its own cadaver lab, which we spent a few days in last semester. Nothing compares to when we went and saw Bodyworlds though! Every medical school should have one of those bodies!

 

[Mono]

Like a previous poster, I had an A&P teacher who had taughted at the local university medical school, so we had access to a cadaver lab a couple of times. It was so worth it! I would love to revist that, and do it again. Most of our class went, it wasn't mandatory, but most of us felt it was important.

 

[Summer099]

I've never yet seen a human cadaver. I'm in Dallas and BodyWorlds has been here for a few months already, but we've been too busy with school to go. It's interesting to hear what others had to say!

Starting next month, however, we will be dissecting cadavers for the next 8 months in chiropractic school (identical to med school in the first 2 years). It's a 4-hour lab once a week. I've heard stories, too, about people needing to leave the room occasionally, and usually out of a class of 100 or so, there are always a couple who get sick. There are respirators you can get, though, to help out with the smell. They're probably a couple hundred, but totally worth it!

Hugs,
~Jyoti

 

[asker111]

In PT school, the first class we took after being accepted into the department was gross anatomy. 8 weeks, 5 days a week of lecture and lab, 4 students per cadaver. Great experience, but I so wish that it had been inserted toward the end of my time in school, rather than so early. I knew so little about the "real" body that it was all about memorization rather than appreciation. By all means, if you have access to a lab; go. Bodyworlds, or Bodies The Exhibition are wonderful experiences. I saw Bodies in Manhattan and was blown away.

 

[Casca]

Hey there!

August 2006 I had an amazing experience at the http://www.davidkent.com Full Body Dissection Seminar. The 5 day seminar is 90% hands on 10% lecture to get an overview of what will be dissected for that day. The dissection lab is very stuctured and well organized.

I will have to say that I was intimidated before arriving in Tampa last August. I was uneasy with what knowledge of the human anatomy that I had studied. I thought there might be a possibility that I would be a little queasy throughout the cadaver lab. I was sure that all the other massage therapists were prepared and that I would be the only unprepared MT.

Little did I know... The light bulb came on; all of the neuromuscular courses and anatomy classes are paying off well. I wasn't queasy, I was too excited to think about queasiness, and almost all of the Massage therapists at the seminar were thinking just as I had before arriving that day. Having this hands on experience was truly amazing. David Kent is a LMT and has brought this great experience to all massage therapists.

Meeting all the other massage therapists in our field is the hightlight of the experience too! A few that attended came from as far away as Ireland. I would love to attend again as a reviewer, but that will be a few years down the road.



-Grapeseed

 

[ep1909]

I guess I was truly blessed because in both A&P I & II we had cadavers in lab. There were 3 total 2 men and a woman. I always appreciated the experience.