[FishKid]

With a smile across his face, my biology teacher anounced today that we will have to examine flesh from a cadaver (spelling?) My god Eww!! How gross is that? Its gonna be a big chunk of our grade, so there is no staying home sick. Yuck! Of course, i was the only one who knew what that was. When i asked him where he got the cadaver, he declined to answer Eww! Think they got the flesh from you know where??

mark

[Bamm Bamm]

If you don't want to do it just have your parent's write a note saying that your religion is against it and it goes against everythign you beleive in.. My best friends girlfriend has been disecting cadaver's in her Anatomy class for the last month. The stuff she tells me about when they cut certain things open..No thanks..

[popcorn]

Fishkid,

Most cadavers are willed to science. These people go out of their way to give their bodies to establishments of learning. The thinking is that they will contribute to the advancement of science and the education of others. I know that it seems kind of weird, but you might be surprised at what you can learn. When you say "flesh" I'm guessing you mean "skin." If it's muscle it's at least a little more interesting, but isn't not going to look all that weird. Since it is just part(s), you might prefer to think of it as part of a marvelous machine rather than a part of another human. That is one easy way to think about it. Cadaver skin (the very top layer) is actually what doctors are using in burn centers all over the country. It's called allograft, if you cared to know. You can donate your organs to other people when you die. Skin is just another organ.

And as for "gross" ... I am a medical student. I am currently dissecting a human cadaver. As far as I am concerned, it is an honor. Whether you think of it as "gross" or a wonderful way to learn about what is inside us all is up to you. Certainly my dissection experience wasn't that great when I was your age (hm, frogs?), but it got better. Try to be openminded.

The perspective we are given from day one is that this person is someone's loved one; soneone's mom or dad, son or daughter. These cadavers are treated with respect, and are ultimately cremated and the ashes returned to the family. You obviously aren't getting the "whole package" - just some skin and maybe muscle. There isn't that much to skin - trust me. Or muscle. (The trick is where they go, what they're called and what they do. And you won't have to do that.)

Just get some gloves and put on your strongest face. Yeah, it isn't for everyone, but you seem like a unique guy. (Not to mention that you already know quite a bit about biological systems.) You never know.

[MarkS]

Originally posted by popcorn

Most cadavers are willed to science.

Yeah, but what about the rest of them?

Mark

[popcorn]

If you want to donate your entire body, there is a lot of advanced planning. Tissues that are not "donated to science" in wills and advanced directives are those that the family choses to donate postmortem. And by this, I mean organ donation. Most likely, that's where Fishkid's "flesh" is coming from.

Grave robbing is not as much of a problem anymore. Unless that biology teacher is facing some major funding cuts, of course...

[icemark]

Still sounds like a great opportunity for you Mark...

[FishKid]

wasnt bad at all, the teacher made like i was gonna be handed a leg! we get to desect a pig soon I remember when we did the frog, i turned it into a puppet