What Is it Like for a Medical Student to Cut Open a Body for the First Time?

What is it like for a medical student to cut open a body for the first time?: originally appeared on Quora: The best answer to any question. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and access insider knowledge. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Answer by Jae Won Joh, sleepy medical dork I simultaneously felt awe, fear, excitement, humility, cowardice, courage, frailty, strength, embarrassment, curiosity, sorrow, and joy. This was only my second day of medical school, but there I was, in the basement, with a real human body in front of me, preparing with a group of four others to make the first incision of many into a being that was human but could not feel, could not move, could not see, could not scream. Lift the tank covers. Elevate the body from the tank. Unzip the body bag. Gingerly remove the towel covering the body. Moment of stunned silence. I cannot adequately describe the mental/emotional overload. There doesn't exist a word in the English language for it: every neuron was firing frantically, and every emotion was in such high gear. Everything eventually melded into an unworldly sense of... calm? that I'd never quite experienced before. Ready, set... incision. The moment that scalpel blade pierced skin, I damn near drowned in a mental storm: how do I detach myself enough to continue cutting what was once a living human being, but remain humanly connected such that I can appropriately appreciate their incredible sacrifice?...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news