GROSS HUMAN ANATOMY

A group of 20 Delta students, mostly pre-nursing, along with Professors Mike Harrell and Don Wheeler trekked to the LSU Medical Center in Shreveport to witness the cadaver lab first hand.  The lab, located on the 8th floor, is where medical students and students of other medical related fields dissect and identify the human body's intricate parts.  The bodies, known as cadavers, are all self-donated.  People donated their bodies to medical science prior to their deaths.  The thought of dismembering a human body, in itself, is quite revolting.  However, the process is necessary for the advancement of medical science.

Upon arriving at the medical facility, Dr. Dennis Wissing, greeted our group at the front door with a box of rubber gloves in hand.  Not knowing what to expect, our group members took the gloves while at the same time looked around at each other quite puzzled.  OK, we were just going to look at the cadavers while Dr. Wissing or an assistant pointed out various body parts, right?  Well, read on for that answer.

In just a few minutes we entered the cadaver lab.  The highly concentrated smell of preservatives quickly overloaded our senses.  Some placed their jackets or sleeves over their noses and mouths.  Unsure of our body's reactions to both the sights and smells, we continued onward.  Rows of stainless steel coffin-like containers , known simply as holding tanks, filled the room.  On top each container were partially dissected bodies, internal organs exposed. 

We gathered around the first cadaver peering down at the exposed viscera and detached sternum and rib cage.  Professor Harrell and I immediately noticed the vertical column of steel wire spiraling down the sternum.  This patient once had open heart surgery.  Dr. Wissing stood next to the body and began to point out some of the various parts.  He picked up the detached heart and quickly without hesitation promptly placed it in the hands of Theresha Robinson.  A little startled, she began to pull back the folds of cut muscle exposing the chambers.  "It looks just like the textbook," she said.  Many bodies exhibited signs of lung disease caused by smoking.  The lungs were spotted with thousands of tiny black specs of deposits.  A few had examples of lung cancer and liver disease.

Dr. Wissing's instructions were to "Help yourself, feel free to browse.  If you need any assistance, just let me know."  Most students began to look at the other bodies.  Dr. Wissing took a small group to the refrigeration room where other bodies are stored for the next class which will not begin until next summer.  Rows of sheet-wrapped bodies were in the room.  A new body, yet to be embalmed, lay on a gurney in front of us.  Plastic buckets labeled "whole brains", "hearts", etc. could be seen on a shelf.

The small group continued with Dr. Wissing to another section of the lab containing numerous fetus samples.  He had just obtained a two-week old fetus still in the uterus.  "This is very rare to have a fetus still attached to the uterus," Wissing informed us.  Fetus samples ranging from one week to three weeks were displayed showing the various stages of development.  He pointed out, just like we learned in biological evolution, that a human fetus is nearly identical to any other mammalian fetus in the early stages of development.  Another rare fetus shown was that of a two-headed conjoined twin.  Like with the cadavers, students were allowed to pick up the fetuses and examine them.  At the next station, students were given more samples of body organs, such as hearts and human brains, to examine and study.  As a teacher the look of amazement on their faces while holding an actual human brain in their hands was priceless.

Having shown us the unique portions of the lab, we were allowed to browse freely.  Professor Harrell took the opportunity to give a hands-on practical lab/lecture to his A & P students.  Students were identifying intricate parts of the body they had only seen in textbooks.  And not only were they identifying them, they were able to touch and pick up those body parts.  It was truly an amazing site to witness and a unique opportunity for our students.  Dr. Wissing seemed quite impressed with the knowledge of the students.  It was also a refreshing experience for him as nearly all of the tours consist of high school students.  It is rare a college level class visits the lab.  We have been asked to return next summer and next fall for future tours.

Below are some photographs of our trip.  Because of regulations we were not allowed to photograph any human tissue while in the lab.  However, one should be able to imagine what it must have been like by the expressions on the students' faces.  A special thank you to Dr. Wissing and LSU for allowing us to visit the facilities.  It was truly a unique learning experience for all.