What was your reaction when you were asked to dissect a human body for the first time?
It was a very humbling experience.I was scared on the first day. Very apprehensive. Our anatomy professors were amazing they taught us to respect the dead bodies.The dissection hall bodies were our teachers. They laid the foundation for us to become doctors. We respected them more than the living persons around us.When I entered the dissection hall there were 7 dead bodies, there was a weird smell, it was neither foul nor sweet. All the bodies were neatly lined up on tables. We were divided in to batches and assigned a table. I noticed that there was an old lady, a middle aged man and on our table was a muscular young male.I wondered what these people did when they were alive. Why did they die? Why were they abandoned? Why didn't their families come to claim them.?I was amazed at natures creation. How intricate the human body was. As we went layer by layer of dissection we observed new structures. So complex, so beautiful and so perfect.We had about equal numbers of boys and girls in our dissection batch. The girls would crowd around the body and fight among themselves as to who would do the dissection. The boys would stand in one corner and see the fun of girls competing.The boys would tell the girls ‘if you see an important structure please call us and show it to us’. We would spend the time talking about college, cricket or movies and keep the Cunningham (textbook of anatomy dissection) open in our hands so that the professors won't get suspicious. Just before the semester exam there would be a frenzy to look at the anatomical structures.We would carry the anatomy hall smell on our clothes to our house or hostel. The family members would freak out smelling us and wash our clothes separately. It was difficult to eat food for the first few days as our hands would smell. We used to do dissection without gloves.The people who became dissection specimens after their death have done great service to humanity, because they continue to serve humanity even after their death. Have you seen anyone else doing it?My advice to first year students, utilize the dissection class to the fullest as in many developed countries students finish their MBBS without dissecting a human body and have to rely on computer simulation and dummy cadavers.Look at the complex structures you see in the human body.Image source: google
How can I protest animal dissection at my school?
Well, honestly, the best thing you can do is talk about it with your teacher first; tell them your view calmly and maturely, and ask for some other alternative to make that grade up. If the teacher is unwilling to allow an alternate assignment, or give full grade possibly for an alternate, talk to your administrator.. and if they are unwilling to listen, ask you parents to help you contact the school board and follow due process. You should have rights where you live to exert your right to conscientiously object in animal dissection. Now once you establish an alternative to dissections, you should let your school mates know that they don't have to dissect animals for a grade, and in fact you encourage them to not dissect (since you believe in fighting for this cause). This way you are effecting change first-hand, and without trying to 'incite disobedience' or whatnot.. It's a very legal and rational way of having less of those already-purchased animals being used in class; which, in effect cause the demand for them to drop, thus decreasing the supply in the long run.. A petition will really do little-to-no good as far as stopping the dissections from going on, and make less people feel like signing it or refusing to dissect. But letting people know that they can be strong and assert their right not to follow orders in doing something they feel supports a wrong or even 'evil' industry... well that can make for some pretty good examples of how people can make a difference.. The thing is, you are probably talking about a middle school or high school setting, where dissections are not readying anyone for human surgery in any time soon: therefore they are not necessary for practical application. Furthermore, any surgeon will tell you, no frog, rat or fetal pig got them ready in any way for a human subject.. Simulations and diagrams work fine for what middle/high school dissections are supposed to teach you (and what your state standardized test(s) will require you to know). good luck with everything, and whatever you decide to do in this matter, Take care.
Do you have to dissect animals in Biology?
I'm taking Biology in my next semester of school. I'm a high school freshman. Everyone says that you have to dissect animals in Biology. Is this true? I don't believe in dissecting animals. I am in the process of going vegetarian and I am completely against dissecting, eating, and using animals for any kind of experiments. My school doesn't offer any alternatives to regular dissection. So, when the time for dissection comes, what should I do? Can they make me do it? And how can I tell them that I won't be participating? Thanks for all of your help!
Frog dissection? Please help?
Hey people we eat frogs too you know so why are you giving this girl grief about dissecting a frog I think you have better things to do then harrass someone online. I would like to once see someone give quality advice to someone instead of playing the shame blame game that so many of you think is entertaining but in reality it is a stupid way to treat someone that came on the board for advice instead some kid is pretending to be offended . GROW UP!! Try being polite and do what Yahoo answers was intended to do give good advice this is not your playground you know. did you not see the sign NO BULLIES?
If you get grossed out easily, how do you deal with dissections in biology?
unfourntaly theres no easy way to deal with it. just remember you didn't kill the animal and you really need the grade in Bio. i hate the smell and it sucks and its so disgusting but theres really nothing you can do about it. i had to do a frog in high school, and now that I'm in college just last week i had to do a baby pig. it was so yucky but i had to do and even though i hate the smell and doing anything like that to an animal i had to suck it up and do it cause i needed the Bio grade. hope this helps good luck.
How do you feel about animal disections in high school science classes?
It teaches anatomy to students in a hands-on way that is impossible to really experience through a textbook. Seeing a picture of a liver in a book is different from pulling one out of a dead frog yourself - you get a better idea of its relationship to surrounding structures and how it's attached to them. You also get a nice appreciation of how idealized those textbooks images are - the real thing doesn't always look as pretty and clear as the textbook. For example, as someone who's taken human gross anatomy, I can tell you that starting out, it's very difficult to identify the difference between arteries, veins, and nerves just by site alone (on a cadaver, they're not all color coded blue, red, and yellow like the textbooks). I really needed to touch them and feel them firsthand to tell the difference. Of course, if you don't plan on pursuing a career in anatomy, or becoming a doctor/surgeon/whatever, I don't see why you should be forced to experience such a task. That being said, if you have an objection to dissecting animals in a high school science class, I think that many high schools will offer some sort of alternative to actual dissection. Computer programs are getting a lot better at simulating the experience, though personally I think there's no substitute for the real thing. My two cents. The good news is that human cadavers are donated to science willingly, so if you have ethical concerns about cutting up poor defenseless fuzzy things - but still want to experience anatomy - I would suggest a human gross anatomy class.
Why do we dissect frogs?
One reason frogs are often chosen to be dissected is that their bodies provide a good overview of the organ systems of a complex living thing.The insides of a frog represent the general form of a vertebrate, everything is in there, the lungs, heart, stomach, intestines. While the way their bodies work is nowhere near identical to a human’s, there are many similarities. The organs present in a frog, and the way they are laid out in the body, are similar enough to humans to provide insight for students about how their bodies work.There are practical advantages in using frogs, too. They're an appropriate size for dissection in the classroom and make the process manageable for students and teachers.Also, frogs have a relatively short life span to begin with. can be easily raised in laboratories, and are cheap and require very low maintenance. So instead of using something like a pig, or cats, which are actually quite expensive and take up relatively more space, we use frogs.Why Do Students Dissect Frogs?
How do female students feel when they are taught gynecology and female anatomy in medical school along with their male classmates?
It is rather easy actually. From the first year itself, medical students are conditioned to look at a body for what it is and not who it is. That's is how we become immune to the gender of our patient. When we study anatomy or when we visualize the uterus or any reproductive organ for that matter, we don't really visualize naked women or men. We see the organ, suspended by the ligaments, held on by the muscles, the blood vessels that run around, the nerves that reach it, what resides anterior to it or just lies behind it, what's on the right and what's on the left, because that's how we have to study! We also dissect female bodies, and for us, it is just a cadaver with female parts, which we need to know.The reproductive system is a bodily system to us like the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and the central nervous system. Each organ is a different entity yet a part of the whole, so it isn't creepy for us to discuss and teach. It doesn't make us uncomfortable to be taught about reproduction because it is as natural a body process as breathing and just as essential. As we move on to our final year, where we actually study Obstetrics and Gynaecology in depth, it becomes a subject to us, to be studied like any other. The uterus, ovaries and breasts aren't a big taboo, we feel nothing saying those words, or even discussing it with male colleagues. The whole thing is a matter of perspective. If you look at it like a matter of study, you'll be objective, unaffected and comfortable. The stigma and shame associated with the human body is the first thing that a doctor learns to discard, and gradually it no longer affects us.