Hopefully you guys won't have to go through 5 torturous Saturdays like my class did. But it's on the P1 schedule for next Fall. They just haven't listed any dates yet. But with that said, I believe the Saturday labs are scheduled based on when the medical school students have their cadaver labs. Essentially they cut up the bodies and we just use the remains to learn (or not learn). I'd like to emphasize that these labs are extremely time consuming. To make things even worse, the labs do take place Lubbock and it really sucked for Abilene students cause we have to drive a farther distance than Amarillo students.
But basically how the labs work is that you are assigned into groups of about 7-8-ish at the beginning of the semester and your group is also given a number (e.g. 1A, 3B, etc). Prior to the Saturday labs, each group has to complete a worksheet that they are assigned to based on their group number. The worksheets consist of anatomy based questions such as labeling body parts, functions, conceptual questions, etc. When your group is finished filling out the worksheet, you submit it onto sakai (which is like blackboard). Make sure you know your parts really well!! I say that because when you get to the actual lab, you will be teaching other groups about your assigned station or as Dr Brinn likes to say "we are experts for our assigned portions." I attached a worksheet of another group from last semester so you guys can have an idea of what to expect. Once every group has submitted their worksheets, you can go download whichever worksheet(s) that you think is the best. You can print it out or download it onto your iPad or whatever works best for you. But take some caution when you download some of these worksheets cause you might find errors from time to time and our professors don't actually check any of them. Basically you just have to catch the mistakes early on or get screwed over.
Now the actual lab is pretty interesting. The first thing you need to do when you get to the lab is get with your group and start going through the worksheet that you should have already filled out. There was always something on the worksheets that required you to identify a certain body part on the cadavers but just cover the entire worksheet. I think we had about 15 minutes to go over our parts before splitting up into other groups (which Dr Brinn will explain in more details later on) and then people start teaching each other their parts. I'm sorry if my explanations are really confusing, but you guys will see it soon enough
After you get through every station, you're given time to eat lunch and you come back later to take the practical exam. You had to literally line up into this huge unorganized circle just to take the practical. There were 50 stations, 1 question each station. The exam questions were written by TA's and professors and they can vary from identifying body parts to conceptual questions.
Now during the lab, you are literally surrounded by dead bodies that have been soaking in preservatives for who knows how long. If you can't stand the smell of preservatives, I would suggest bringing some Vick's VapoRub and dab a little of that stuff beneath your nose. A lot of people found that pretty helpful in masking the smell of preservatives. Or if you can get your hands one one, bring a gas mask. One girl actually brought a legit gas mask to every lab.
Also, it would be helpful to go through all the worksheets the night before the labs. It would make the practical a whole lot easier for you, especially if you've never had A&P before. When I was doing the labs last semester, there really wasn't much time for us to study while we're in Lubbock. I remember one time they cut down our lunch time and you didn't have an opportunity to look at anything.
I hope this covers most of the questions that some of you may have about the labs. I rambled way too much and I'm sorry. But, feel free to ask me any other questions you may have about the labs, classes, school or whatever.
Maybe its becuase im OS
