@ autopsy

I entered the post-mortem room, hoping to see a handful of students but alas, all I saw was a pathologist trying to separate the innards of yet another unfortunate victim, and watching were two fellow medical students – not looking very interested. After waiting for about five minutes, I eventually summoned enough courage and asked “Sir, do you mind if I assist you?” and surprisingly, with so much enthusiasm, he said “Oh, please do. Thank you very much”
It’s not that I am one of those overzealous medicos you’ve heard or read about (or seen if you’ve ever been a medical student), I just needed to meet the requirements for my part II exams which was fast approaching as the new head of department seemed bent on debarring anyone who hadn’t assisted at up to five autopsies from taking part in the exams. So, I gowned and gloved, hoping the whole time I hadn’t made a great mistake.
The first feel of the body was cold and moist despite the gloves. The case was that of a 72 year old woman with pancreatic carcinoma. The tumor was massive and largely adherent to her entrails – kidneys, spleen, liver etc. There really wasn’t much for me to do – just holding and pulling, here and there, and then weighing the organs. I had to stand for over three hours and funny enough, not once did I feel nauseated.
While the experience was indeed memorable, I must say that the risk of infection (more like the thought/fear of it) was daunting. At a point, my partner (the pathologist), wanted to show me how to get a pulmonary embolus out and in the process spattered blood on my chin, simply put, disgusting. At the end of the procedure, I was secretly pleased with myself with one down and four to go. At the time, I felt I couldn’t wait to get on with the remaining four but now, I know I’ll have to wait forever as I never got around to doing them.