A Student's Experience at the Human Anatomy Cadaver Lab

By Andrew Porter ('18)

The Guelph University field trip to the cadaver lab was a great experience that not many people will have a chance to experience.

Once we arrived on campus at Guelph we got informed about the rules and what to expect once we got into the lab. The first thing we looked at where bones ranging from the arms, legs, spine, rib cage and many other bones. Third year kinesiology students took us through the bones and quizzed us about the types and the importance of the specific bones. As we went from station to station looking at different bones throughout the body we were given the chance to hold the bones and feel the differences between certain bones.

Not only were we able to hold and learn about the bones throughout the human body we were also given the chances to see bones that had undergone surgery and were replaced with artificial joints such as a fake hip and knee as well as a bone that had been so severely fractured a metal rod had to be placed inside of it.

After being given the chance to look through different types of bones in the body we moved onto the organs. Different stations had been set up through the lab such as a neuro station where we were able to hold and talk about the brain and spinal cord, the respiratory station where we were able to see the lungs, and the heart station where we able to hold the heart and talk about the different veins and arteries that were attached to it. We were also given the chance to looks at the muscles of the arm and leg and were able to see the nerves in the legs.

After we finished up our time in the lab, we were surprisingly very hungry for lunch. Once we finished up lunch we got the chance to sit in on a 4th year kinesiology lecture. During the lecture, the professor talked about blood pressure and exercise which was surprisingly similar to what we have been learning in our Exercise Science class. Overall, it was a great experience to have been given the chance and was very helpful with your understanding of how the organs, muscle and bones actually work in the human body.