It has been some time since i last blogged. The well expected reason from a medical student - Busy! Busy ! Very busy!!!
I have just finished my dissection last week. The wheel has not stopped since then. Tightly tailing behind was the nerve-breaking post-dissection week followed by a series of other tests and exams. I still have Latin final , Czech credit test and biology test before i can go for my much yearned holiday. How long have i not been able to sleep soundly , wake up at noon , watch endless series without feeling a sense of guilt? I have lost count of it.
The bright side of it is , after having described my life as pathetically occupied only by study , study and more study , i seem to enjoy every part of it. Everyday is about gaining new knowledge , acquiring new skills , and putting myself one step nearer to my goal. To think positively , it is part of the training to prepare us to endure the more stormy and choppy journey ahead.
Dissection week was fun , though tiring. I was totally drained at the end of every day. 5 hours a day , 5 days straight in a week , dissecting the same region. Oh Gosh! And it was the same position - back arching forward , hands holding skalpel and forceps , facing the same cadaver , inhaling the pungent formalin. My back , hand , leg and practically all muscles in the body ached.
But it was an enthralling experience. Everyone can experience the thrill of a roller coster ride , but not everyone can have a feel of cutting a real cadaver. Lying ahead was a real man (before) and i would be dissecting it part by part. Ooooo...
First day was mainly to peel off the skin. Of course it wasn't as easy as peeling off chicken skin , as i had to apply the right pressure , hard enough to cut off the skin , but not too hard to cut the subcutaneous structures. To remove it , i had to gently peel it inch by inch so as not to remove the adipose tissue below. And just peeling off the skin took me one whole day ,5 hours of work.
The highlight of the day i must say was the removal of penis. Ouch! None of the guys wanted to cut off the "precious" of the other guy , so we let Hamsath do the other.With just a few cut , the penis was gone! Just like that. And all the way into the rubbish bin.
Second and third day was the most tiring day. Removal of adipose tissue. Man, it was so much of fat. My region was just the thigh and the amount of fat was already driving me nuts , what more to say the buttock region. Everywhere was smeared with fat , my labcoat , my hand , my specs. And the whole body also smelt of fat. Of course we also had to search among those lumps of fat some cutaneous nerves and veins. One small posterior femoral cutaneous nerve took us 2 hours to find! And with a slip of hand and wrong maneuvre , i cut the great saphenous vein! An unforgivable mistake. Luckily with Hamsath "sew"manship , she managed to save my day by sewing it back . Phew!
Forth day was more fruitful. Finally fascia layer was off and our exploration started. One by one , each muscle was reviewed. Arteries , veins and nerves coarsing along it were identified too. So at least a few days of hardwork was finally paid back. It's a sense of satisfaction , a feel of pride that we have conquered our region.
Last day was mainly cleaning up the muscles , clearing off more fats , separating arteries and nerves , and preparation of exam.
I took my post dissection discussion straight on that day , and i passed. :) At least i am relief for the time being. No more anatomy until the next semester. Cheers!
I have just finished my dissection last week. The wheel has not stopped since then. Tightly tailing behind was the nerve-breaking post-dissection week followed by a series of other tests and exams. I still have Latin final , Czech credit test and biology test before i can go for my much yearned holiday. How long have i not been able to sleep soundly , wake up at noon , watch endless series without feeling a sense of guilt? I have lost count of it.
The bright side of it is , after having described my life as pathetically occupied only by study , study and more study , i seem to enjoy every part of it. Everyday is about gaining new knowledge , acquiring new skills , and putting myself one step nearer to my goal. To think positively , it is part of the training to prepare us to endure the more stormy and choppy journey ahead.
Dissection week was fun , though tiring. I was totally drained at the end of every day. 5 hours a day , 5 days straight in a week , dissecting the same region. Oh Gosh! And it was the same position - back arching forward , hands holding skalpel and forceps , facing the same cadaver , inhaling the pungent formalin. My back , hand , leg and practically all muscles in the body ached.
But it was an enthralling experience. Everyone can experience the thrill of a roller coster ride , but not everyone can have a feel of cutting a real cadaver. Lying ahead was a real man (before) and i would be dissecting it part by part. Ooooo...First day was mainly to peel off the skin. Of course it wasn't as easy as peeling off chicken skin , as i had to apply the right pressure , hard enough to cut off the skin , but not too hard to cut the subcutaneous structures. To remove it , i had to gently peel it inch by inch so as not to remove the adipose tissue below. And just peeling off the skin took me one whole day ,5 hours of work.
The highlight of the day i must say was the removal of penis. Ouch! None of the guys wanted to cut off the "precious" of the other guy , so we let Hamsath do the other.With just a few cut , the penis was gone! Just like that. And all the way into the rubbish bin.Second and third day was the most tiring day. Removal of adipose tissue. Man, it was so much of fat. My region was just the thigh and the amount of fat was already driving me nuts , what more to say the buttock region. Everywhere was smeared with fat , my labcoat , my hand , my specs. And the whole body also smelt of fat. Of course we also had to search among those lumps of fat some cutaneous nerves and veins. One small posterior femoral cutaneous nerve took us 2 hours to find! And with a slip of hand and wrong maneuvre , i cut the great saphenous vein! An unforgivable mistake. Luckily with Hamsath "sew"manship , she managed to save my day by sewing it back . Phew!
Forth day was more fruitful. Finally fascia layer was off and our exploration started. One by one , each muscle was reviewed. Arteries , veins and nerves coarsing along it were identified too. So at least a few days of hardwork was finally paid back. It's a sense of satisfaction , a feel of pride that we have conquered our region.
Last day was mainly cleaning up the muscles , clearing off more fats , separating arteries and nerves , and preparation of exam.I took my post dissection discussion straight on that day , and i passed. :) At least i am relief for the time being. No more anatomy until the next semester. Cheers!
