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Friday, January 13, 2012
LSM1202 First Prac

Today was a normal day.... until.....

I went for lsm1202 prac.

(Warning and disclaimer: Contents of the blog post may be considered explicit and disturbing for some. Read at your own risk. This post is to record down my experience of the first LSM1202 Human Anatomy practical and my thoughts and feelings. Nothing more. Please read this post with a solomn heart, it is not meant to be funny or light.)

It was held in the anatomy hall (aka dissection hall... so you know what they do there) and the anatomy museum.

At first I thought I can handle.... Then they showed us pictures and video clip about "silent mentors" (you can google the term and find out what it means). In a Taiwan university, there are many procedures that medical students follow to honour and show respect for their "silent mentors".

I was very touched! Trying very hard to hold back my tears... And tell myself don't think so much. The phrase "silent mentors" actually makes me feel very touched. (I'm very sentimental ok)

We were all solomn and went to take gloves after the end of the presentation. I was still trying to fight my emotions (sounds exaggerated, but really!) and calm myself down. Then they told us to put glove on left hand and surround the "silent mentors". Ok.... I started to get nervous.

Then they told us to unzip the bag the "mentors" were lying in. Wenhui did it, through the slight opening of the bag I could see that the "mentor" was... an indian uncle?? (No offense meant) Actually cannot determine, due to the biological process that would occur after one's death. The smell (I think it was the smell of chemicals used) came first (and I'm very sensitive to smell) and then we were told to open the bag fully so that we could all see our "mentors". To be honest, it was not a good sight to behold. I was shocked as I was expecting a full human body, however, our "mentor" was just muscle and bones. And he (I think he's a male) did not have a complete head. (Which is very saddening, considering the prof said NUS's "mentors" were all unclaimed bodies, which means the "mentors" themselves probably didn't want to end up on a dissecting table in the anatomy department of universities and colleges after their death.) *Serious tone* So, please take care of your family members!! Don't throw them in a home and then forget about them!

I guessed that the "mentor" I was looking at would have been an old uncle. He probably lived alone (in a retirement home maybe), and died alone, without family (since nobody claimed his body after he passed on). I feel sad ;( It could be partly due to the presentation (I was still feeling emotional).

Back to this experience, they told us to touch the "mentors" with our gloved hand and raise our right hand to say a pledge. I couldn't remember the details, but it was roughly about pledging to respect the dead who were lying on the tables and show gratitude to them for sacrificing their bodies so that we (the students) could learn about anatomy. I was trying not to look at the "mentor" as I felt a bit uncomfortable. I didn't want to touch the "mentor's" head (I didn't think it was respectful) so I reached out a bit and placed my fingers on his shoulder/ arm. He felt soft and you could actually see some fluid on the glove afterwards. I think the "mentor" would have been in the anatomy hall for some time?

After that, we went to wash our hand and prepared to go to the anatomy museum. I was in a state of shock. You can call it a bit like traumatised. I think other students were shocked too. We went up to the museum, where there were human specimens on display. We were also told to respect the people whose bodies have been used for such educational purposes. The profs were also emphasizing to us that we are a very priviledged group, as no one other than medical students are allowed to go into the anatomy hall and anatomy museum. No one other than medical students have the opportunity to work with "silent mentors" too. Other than us. Indeed, it would a different experience, and I feel I will never be the same after today, my first encounter with a "silent mentor", even as I am typing this post now.

The anatomy museum was less daunting, as the specimens were all kept in jars and containers (not those jars normally used to preserve living things). We had a tour around the anatomy museum and finally we were dismissed. We would go to the anatomy museum for most practicals, and to the anatomy hall for a few pracs with the "silent mentors".

After the whole prac was over (it was an intro to anat pracs btw), I could feel I was affected. Wenhui too. I didn't dare to use my left hand for the rest of the day, until some time later (I'm ok now), I had not much appetite even though I was quite hungry. The waffles that I bought tasted funny (is it a psychological thing?) and I couldn't stop thinking about the prac. I talked a bit with wenhui about the prac earlier in the day while waiting for the GEM lecture, and I felt a bit better. But it made wenhui worse, so sorry!!

I shall not discuss the ethics and my other feelings towards this issue. I just wanted to record down this experience, a unique one (as we are a priviledged group and not many people will have a chance to experience anatomy pracs other than medical students).

On a lighter note, I am quite glad I'm not a medical student.

(Anyway, if you still don't know, another name for the "silent mentors" is "cadaver".)

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