Mrs. Diane Todd’s Anatomy & Flesh and Bones class got a very unique experience. Friday January 26 her first hour, second hour, fourth and sixth hour classes took a field trip to Rend Lake College to see their cadaver lab.
“This is the 3rd year we have done this,” stated Mrs. Todd
A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being.
“We’ve had the program for over 25 years,” stated Rend Lake College’s Mrs. Caroline Ragan.
Going to see a cadaver is a very unique experience for many reasons.
Mrs. Todd explained, “I like taking my students to go see the cadaver so they understand the smell, the presence of a cadaver. If my students are thinking about going into that field it helps them determine whether or not they can handle something like that before they go to college.”
A Lot of people think they can handle seeing a cadaver, until they actually see the cadaver.
“Our main goal is to give students the best, and most realistic experience to prepare them for working with human patients. We also want to expose students to this before they enter the nursing program or progress very far down that path in case working on a body is uncomfortable. Some students actually change their mind about their career path, but most find the experience inspiring and fascinating,” said Mrs. Ragan.
Many people quiver and hide when they are asked to see a cadaver.
“I loved being with my friends experiencing a new field of work and being able to see how it’s performed,” stated Flesh and Bones student Melaina Zedalis ‘25
Rend lake typically receives a new cadaver every year to two years.
“The cadavers come from Anatomical Gifts of Illinois in Chicago. They supply them to most of the universities in our region.” added Mrs. Ragan.
Seeing the cadaver wasn’t the only thing students got to do.
“Students took a lab practical, learned about blowing into carbon dioxide, learned about donating your body to science, learned about the senses, and played with the new interactive table,” said Mrs. Todd
“I saw the cadaver, ate (barely) with my friends, worked on a breathing test, and took a “test”,” added Zedalis
After reading this you might be interested in the cadaver program itself at Rend Lake College,
“All students need to do to enter the program is take the Zoology 1105 or 1106 courses (Anatomy & Physiology I and II). Both classes spend quite a bit of time using the cadaver. It is an important learning tool for many different organ systems. We also have district high school visitors that come with their classes,” stated Mrs. Ragan.