19 – GONZALES FRANCINE ANTOINETTE M. NOVEMBER 3, 2014 2F – PH

BIOSCI LAB CADAVER VIEWING REFLECTION

My anticipations of the cadaver lab were ones of excitement, anxiety, and opportunity. I was so excited to be able to go to a cadaver lab as a sophomore in college, at the Med School Bldg. nonetheless. Experiences like these make me so thankful because had I not chosen the University of Santo Tomas, I would have been lectured at another university for several class periods on the amount of information I learned during the cadaver lab. I was anxious because I had never seen a cadaver lab before. I have handled dissections well in the past, but I did not know how a human body was going to affect me. I suppose it did not help that I ate a sloppy barbecue sandwich beforehand, but I knew my stomach could handle the pressure. The minute I walked into the laboratory, the stench of formaldehyde filled my nostrils. I saw several long metal tables the length I assumed suitable for the cadavers. Immediately I searched the room for dead bodies, and they were all lined up, each covered in a black bag. All of us students walked around the room and examined each of the cadavers, yet some didn’t dare touch them. Each gave us a bit of insight on what medical school was like and what to expect as well as how to prepare for getting in. Medical school, in my eyes, seems like such a daunting and difficult task. But standing in the midst of the medical students made the process seem a little more feasible. It was a motivation I could not have gotten from any other experience. We then split up into groups and proceeded to examine the cadavers that were lined up in each table. I began at the middle table. As I lifted the black bag off of the cadaver, I gazed in awe. I had dissected a frog before, but I never experienced a human brain tangibly and ready to be examined in my very own hands. Everyone quickly took their places at the edge of each table in order to get a good look at what was the majority of the cadavers. As each of us revealed the abdominal area of the body, I felt my insides churn a bit. Though I knew I was not going to be sick by any means, the thought of examining a dead human being quickly came to reality. Some students took turns passing around various organs of the frail old man that lie on the table. I see his face and I could not help but think of what her life must have been like. What made him decide he wanted to donate his body for research? It is people like him that I am so blessed to have the opportunities I do. It was interesting passing around the heart, lungs, and liver of the cadavers. The lungs felt of sponges while the heart was hard from the formaldehyde. The insides of the cadavers were tainted a dark green from the gull bladder. And the intestines coiled in a jumbled mess in her lower abdomen. After examining the one cadaver for quite some time, I moved over to the other body lying on the other side of the room. The man was a lot bigger than the first cadaver which made the rest of his organs a lot bigger in size as well. I successfully examined all of the cadavers before it was time to leave.

One of my teachers says that the body is the textbook for one’s life in God’s creation and that we write in it. I have observed in photographs and in living beings that some people have very “coherent” bodies. There’s little chaos; one can think more clearly while looking at them. The physical structure and energetic structure are confluent and un-conflicted. The abdomen can be a jumble of whirls and indistinct physical structures or it can be a pleasant energetic ‘book’ for the person connecting with it. Upon connecting, one finds peace and order while one’s attention moves down over muscles that express the grace of alignment. The muscles align meaningfully to a point in the chest. They are imbued with intelligence including eloquence of speech, thought and refinement of emotion. They are a communication and record of an understanding of the workings of creation and oneness. I was grateful to have witnessed these corpses and to have seen lives and life written in them. I am in awe of the potential we have to create and communicate. Witnessing such a corpse elicited an awareness of me as beyond manifestation. I observed and learned from the corpse and yet I was beyond it, even while simultaneously connecting with it.

The experience was not only eye opening, but it provided me with the motivation I needing to get me ready for medical school. I realize the work ahead of me, but I know the work will pay off in the end.