The last few anatomy labs have been relatively easy, and today’s was no different. This morning’s agenda consisted of peering deep into the thoracic cavity uncovering the structures below the heart and lungs, particularly the vessels/nerves of the mediastinum. Read more  

Today, we explored the incredibly unique structure of the lungs. Most of the tissues we’ve dealt with so far have been rather dense and/or fibrous, but the lungs presented us with far more spongy and pliable dissection. Since the rib cage had already been removed for the heart dissection, the lungs were readily accessible. Read more  

Tuesday morning, my anatomy tankmates and I continued our journey through the human body. The next stop brought us to the heart – arguably the most important muscle in the entire body (aside from trapezius) . Read more  

Before applying to medical school, I heard “rumors” that Baylor College of Medicine students use prosections rather than actually dissecting cadavers on their own. Fortunately, I was right to be skeptical of such a claim. Just recently, a friend of mine who is currently applying heard this same rumor from a UT Houston student. People need to get their facts straight. Read more  

After finishing the upper extremity, I was starting to feel pretty good! With all the muscles, bones, nerves, arteries, etc. that we’ve studied… how much more could really be left? As a rule of thumb – never doubt the complexity of the human body. Read more  

The next time you move your hand, keep in mind that there are more muscles and ligaments and tendons and vessels involved than… well… I know at the moment. It’s amazing! For a structure as thin as the hand, there are so many tissues packed into it. We often take the range of motion of our hands for granted, but there are a lot of structure-function relationships at work, many of which we discovered during our dissection yesterday. Read more  

Today in gross anatomy, my group dissected out the extensor and flexor compartments of the forearm. We found muscles like the flexor carpi ulnaris, extensor carpi radialis brevis, and abductor pollicis longus. A part of me wishes I knew Latin before medical school. Read more  

Yesterday, my anatomy group continued our cadaver dissection by locating the brachial plexus, a particular bundle of nerves situated near the axilla (armpit) which arises from C5-T1 and innervates the entire upper limb. Read more  

My gross anatomy group got together yesterday afternoon to dissect out the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles of the chest, and did we have one heck of a realization! Our cadaver was initially presented to us face-down (dorsal side facing up) so we could easily dissect the back/shoulder; however, to access the chest, we obviously had to flip the specimen over. Read more  

What comes to mind when you think of your “best teacher?” Perhaps the one who had easy tests? Maybe the one who would go out of his/her way to know each student on an individual basis? Well in gross anatomy, the cadaver is undoubtedly a medical student’s best teacher. Read more