The human body is an amazing creature – scientists often wonder how every organ and almost 30 feet of intestines can fit into such a compact form. And yet we walk around all day not knowing how we work or even where all our organs are located.
Last week I got the opportunity to not only hear incredible stories and insight about the human body but also to come to an open cadaver lab.
Elizabeth Foster and Christi Hutchinson are two anatomy lab TAs at the University. They’re both seniors and human physiology majors, and Foster is double-majoring in dance.
“The whole human physiology department is like a big family.” Hutchinson said. “We all know each other.”
It was so much better that they did – I was treated to an abundance of interesting dissection stories (some are way too graphic to recount here). Stories like how all the guys in the class had to leave the room and wouldn’t come near Hutchinson when she was bisecting a penis. Or how after class people write “cool finds” on the board, and if the cool find is cool enough and can be found in the textbook, it gets added to the structure list to be taught the following year. Last year Hutchinson not only found the salivary glands on her cadaver but also found the ducts that take saliva to the mouth. She’s pretty sure it’s been added to the structure list for this year.
At the start of the term, the cadavers are completely untouched, or as Foster and Hutchinson put it, “They still have their skin on.” It’s clear from the waxy texture of the skin that these are not living humans, but nonetheless, they look like they’re just sleeping. The first incision is a little intimidating (Foster couldn’t do the first incision on her cadaver), but after a while the shock wears off. Hutchinson said the coolness factor sinks in and your cadaver becomes a structure and a study tool.
“At the same time, you respect that this is a person who donated his body in the name of science,” she said.
“I can finish his last wish,” Foster added.
Each cadaver is labeled with a tag that includes name, height, weight and cause of death. Every time Hutchinson talked about her cadaver she called him Duke, while Foster’s cadaver was named Mabel. These aren’t their real names, of course. The school works hard to tell students as little as possible about the cadavers in the event they find out who the cadaver was when he or she was alive (or personally knew the person. It’s happened). It’s also a federal offense to take pictures in an anatomy lab. So they cover up tattoos, change the names, and give a general cause of death, like “cerebral vascular accident.”
This doesn’t stop the students from speculating how the person died. Foster and Hutchinson spent a few minutes debating whether the female cadaver, Mabel, died of an aneurism or a stroke. You can see where the event, whatever it was, happened: a section of Mabel’s skull is almost gored-looking, and half her face is blackened.
Specifically, Hutchinson chose to work on the head, brain and neck.
“I love the brain,” she said.
Hutchinson used to be a psychology major, and now she’s even working for a neuropsychologist. When we were actually in the lab, she was able to show me all the different parts of Duke’s brain, pointing out lobes, structures and nerves.
“It’s really weird to think about the brain,” Hutchinson said. Even when were just talking about the brain, I could feel my own scalp tingling.
Foster worked on the leg and feet of Mabel.
“No (body) is exactly like the text,” Foster said. One time she was looking for the great saphenous vein, a large vein that runs from your foot all the way up your leg, and it definitely wasn’t where her textbook said it would be. After lots of digging and searching, she finally found it under layers of thick scar tissue on Mabel’s leg.
Working on the cadavers gave Foster and Hutchinson incredible and invaluable knowledge. They kept saying how much respect you have for the cadaver and how special and even artistic the act of dissecting was.
“I’ve learned a ridiculous amount of info,” Foster said.
“An annoying amount of info,” Hutchinson added. “One of my friends will say, ‘I hit my funny bone!’ and I’ll be like, ‘Actually, that’s the ulnar nerve…’”
I’ve certainly read about the human anatomy in a high school textbook before, but I was never completely satisfied. Until now.
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