Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: anatomy lab

  • Seasick: Lessons in human anatomy from Hyman Bloom’s The Hull (1952)

    Liz IrvinWorcester, Massachusetts, United States “I experience a gagging sensation and, still farther down, spasms in the stomach, the belly; and all the organs shrivel up the body, provoke tears and bile, increase heartbeat, cause forehead and hands to perspire.”– Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror A cold dread crept up the back of my neck…

  • Becoming Judith: the connection between Italian Baroque and anatomy lab

    Emily Nghiem Detroit, Michigan, USA   The Gross Clinic by Thomas Eakins. 1875. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Wikimedia Commons Public Domain. Art and medicine are not two things that seem to fall together naturally. When considering an example of medicine depicted in art, a reasonable and literal choice would be Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic,…

  • Learning anatomy in medical school

    Peter H. BerczellerDordogne, France An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. On the second day of medical school, we were invited to meet the cadaver we would be working on for the next six months. I trooped up with the rest of the class into a large unheated space on the…

  • Against anatomy lab

    Harriet SquierHaslett, Michigan, United States Make no mistake, dissecting a human cadaver is revolting. When we medical students opened the cadaver bag, we were instructed to keep the head covered to prevent it from drying out. It is difficult to dissect tissues that are completely dry. We peeled back the skin on the chest and…