So I am taking Anatomy Physiology in high school. I joined this class to help me better understand human anatomy( I want to be a forensic sculptor), knowing that I would have to dissect an animal. When I did my scheduling, my counselor warned me that we would dissect a fetal pig. Other students taking the corse before me also said they had to dissect a fetal pig. This I had no problem with, and I felt confident that dissecting a pig would be a good learning experience since the anatomy is similar to a human. Well the new semester rolls around and the teacher that I was suppose to have was on medical leave, so I am in another teachers class, a teacher I have never heard of. When I asked her about dissection, she told us that we would be dissecting cats; something I have a huge problem with. I told her this and she said that many students have a problem with it too. After a few weeks I thought it over trying to put myself in a mind set such as
EX.1: I am a veterinarian and i need to slice open this animal in order to save its life.
EX.2: I may be dissecting humans in the future so this should be nothing.
EX.3: As long as I don't look at the out side and focus on the inside, I wont even know its a cat.
Now, I know that it is something that I would need to do eventually in order to further my studies, and I know that there is no way around it with out failing the corse, but I simply cannot get over the fact that it's a cat. You see, I have cats at home and, like most cat owners, I'm very attached to them. I explained that to my teacher, but I told her that as long as I got a cat that didn't look like one from home, I would be Ok. Her response? "Oh, it's ok, we're skinning them first!" This bothered me even more. But I guess a positive is, she told me that i didn't have to skin the cat if it bothered me that much. After the fur is gone, it won't look much like a cat. Still, it bothers me.
The dissection starts on thursday, and I am torn apart on the inside. I know that I need to get over it and go through with it, but I also can't help but think I will break down when we start the dissection. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this situation? Or any mental tricks I can play on myself to get past the dissection?
EX.1: I am a veterinarian and i need to slice open this animal in order to save its life.
EX.2: I may be dissecting humans in the future so this should be nothing.
EX.3: As long as I don't look at the out side and focus on the inside, I wont even know its a cat.
Now, I know that it is something that I would need to do eventually in order to further my studies, and I know that there is no way around it with out failing the corse, but I simply cannot get over the fact that it's a cat. You see, I have cats at home and, like most cat owners, I'm very attached to them. I explained that to my teacher, but I told her that as long as I got a cat that didn't look like one from home, I would be Ok. Her response? "Oh, it's ok, we're skinning them first!" This bothered me even more. But I guess a positive is, she told me that i didn't have to skin the cat if it bothered me that much. After the fur is gone, it won't look much like a cat. Still, it bothers me.
The dissection starts on thursday, and I am torn apart on the inside. I know that I need to get over it and go through with it, but I also can't help but think I will break down when we start the dissection. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this situation? Or any mental tricks I can play on myself to get past the dissection?
