I get to go and see a shoulder dissection tomorrow...

[Reverend_Smitty]

It's so awesome I can't wait!

[PartyPooper]

1. Are you a medical student?

Just wondering.

:-)

[Reverend_Smitty]

3. No...

I'm an athletic training student. But I would say our undergrad program is comparable to any pre-med programs...probably better in some way because we have to spend our last 2 years assigned to various athletic teams, so we have a good deal of experience with orthopedic injuries and such. The shoulder dissection is just something the "team" surgeon offered to do for us. Last year he dissected a foot for us

[Jamastiene]

2. Do they have bags full of those like they

do cadavers? That would be surreal. Will you post detail afterward?

[Reverend_Smitty]

4. I'm not sure where he is getting this one from...

probably on loan from U Penn med school. It's going to be at his office not at the hospital, so I doubt there will be stacks of them lying around.

Have you ever been to a cadaver lab? I went to one last year and it was a little creepy at first but ultimately a cool experience

On edit:
I'll post a re-cap of the whole event when I return tomorrow

[Jamastiene]

5. Thank you.

I could just picture stack of them lying around too. No I haven't seen them, but would like to. I am very interested in this topic. I think death is as natural as life and is a part of life. Have you ever heard of the body farm in Tennesee? It's kind of morbid, but it is basically a "farm" where forensics investigators have laid out bodies in various stages of decomposition and in different scenarios to do research for forensic science. And they have it so you can donate your body to the "farm" for that purpose. I've considered it. I think it is interesting. Not sure if it was Discovery Channel or TLC where I saw the documentary about it.

[Reverend_Smitty]

6. I've heard of it...

I think there was a show about in on Discovery channel or something like that. They train the FBI agents there...It's wild to think that they would just have a body lying in a wooded area for an extended period of time just to see what happens in the various stages of decay.

Forensics is a fascinating subject, my roommate is actually studying that. She has all sorts of books with these graphic pictures in them. I don't think I could ever be one of those CSI people.

[Jamastiene]

7. I think maybe yes

maybe no for me. I love the way the CSI shows go and the way the documentaries go but don't know if I could handle the smell. I know they have mentioned some cream applied below your nose, but my smeller is very sensitive and I could probably still smell it.

[Reverend_Smitty]

8. The smell of formaldehyde is bad but...

I can only imagine the smell of decaying flesh 1000 time worse. It's strange when I went to the cadaver lab, the fact that there were 15 dead people lying on metal slabs didn't really bother me after the initial shock of seeing 15 dead people. Plus you do get used to the smell of formaldehyde after a while. But as for seeing decaying dead bodies, something about that really creeps me out...and I don't think you could ever get used to that smell.

[Jamastiene]

9. Me too.

That would be the red light for me. It would definitely be surreal. Try not to think about bags full of shoulders when you see the dissection. It might make you laugh and appear odd. I do stuff like that, but I am used to appearing odd. ;)