Human

The idea of cadaver lab never intimidated me. I'd seen cadavers before, been tested on them, and studied them without any problem. Even here, I was the one that made the first cut on our cadaver, no big deal. But there are horror stories of medical students who were so conflicted with their role in dismantling a human body that they couldn't be in their own home with the lights off. These bodies were once people, and some med students can't justify what, in a way, seems like morbid desecration.

We start with what might be the least-human body part (if that makes any sense): the back. You don't look in the mirror and see your back every day, and it's really just a flat edge of a body that usually has clothes covering it. The back is full of muscles that are large, small. and somewhere in between. It's interesting, but not particularly human.

Meanwhile, the rest of the body is covered. The head, hands, and feet are wrapped in an extra layer of cloth and plastic to prevent them from drying out before we've had a chance to dissect them. Occasionally, I catch a glance of our cadaver's ear, and it's a little startling. The ear, so distinctly curved and shaped, and unmistakably human, is an odd reminder that I've just been skinning a human body. It's not uncomfortable, just a gentle reminder that this is my first patient, and she was brave enough to volunteer.

For every unit, we switch lab groups and we switch cadavers. Strangely enough, I felt a little sad not to go to my same dissection table, and continue to get to know "my cadaver." I knew her when she was an intact body, and saw her make the remarkable transition from dead person to skinned teacher of anatomy. However grotesque a bond that is, it's a bond all the same. Throughout the next unit, I even "checked in" with her periodically. It's a good idea to get to know other bodies anyway, but I was mostly curious about what the rest of her anatomy looked like.

This is probably one of the stranger relationships I've had.