I'm very interested in becoming a doctor. I'm 15, and have spent some time shadowing, talking to doctors, understanding what they do, etc. I probably won't major in a surgical field, because I'm not good with that type of thing, but in med school, how often do you have to dissect people... and is it really as gruesome as it sounds, or do you warm up to it?
in first year you will dissect a cadaver. It can be pretty gruesome at times but you just have to frame it properly. I didn't walk in to anatomy lab and think about how I was going to rip apart a body, I thought to myself about what I was supposed to learn that day. I think most people found it overall to be less distressing than they expected but there is going to be at least one moment where you will feel it. I can only think of 3 times in the course of the semester where I had to keep myself in check: the anticipation on the first day before we started, the day we dissected genitals, and the day we started on the face.
In 3rd year, you will have surgical exposure. I haven't witnessed a surgery so I can't speak to it but most people, whether or not they want to be surgeons, have found it to be an incredible experience as you will see things that basically 99% of the world will never see.
How often do you dissect cadavers during gross anatomy during first year. If I watch videos and such, do you think it will kind of make me less queasy when I actually have to dissect a cadaver? Thanks for your help though! What year are you and where do you go?
Cadaver lab lasts a full 16 weeks and is your first class in medical school. You will be working in the lab just about every day--even on weekends-- for several hours.
Desensitization helps, but there are a very few people who just can't get past it. (One individual in my older D's med class walked out of lab the first week, never came back and eventually dropped out of med school.) D says that nearly everyone has a bad moment or six and had to excuse themselves to go outside for some air. But if you want to be doctor, you screw up your courage and walk back in.
Medicine is full of ooky things. Not just cadavers, but all sort of bad smelling fluids and bodily excretions. Everyone has something he/she has hard time dealing with.
No one in my daughter's Physician Assistant grad class fainted or threw up during anatomy lab. She found it too fascinating to become grossed out or ill.
On the other hand, four of the students passed out the first day they practiced giving injections to one another.....
DD14 is a rising high school junior and will be taking anatomy and physiology this fall. The class goes to Yale School of Medicine anatomy lab on a regular basis and dissects cadavers with the medical students through out the year. She is looking forward to the class and I am so happy for her! I know that dissecting cadavers can be a deal breaker for many a student.
Its funny b/c she was in the HPREP program this past winter and they visited the anatomy lab on a field trip. I didn't warn her, nor did I tell her to brace herself.. I wanted her to go into the lab withOUT any prejudices. She hopped into the car that afternoon and was so excited!! She wasn't grossed out at all.. she thought it very exciting/interesting...
I think you will be ok! Good Luck to you! You will do fine! Keep up the good work.
