Rat Massacre
(WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES)
30 students dressed in lab coats all gathered at lab 5 on 6th of February for one sole reason: rat dissection. Rat dissection is an annual event held by Doctors of Tomorrow (DOT), TCSH’s one of the most active clubs, for the new members to familiarise with real organs.
‘I’m very excited for it, especially for the brains’, Aiman, one of the participants remarked before heading towards the lab. For the majority of the students, this was the very first time that they got to slice through a real body. Before the commencement of the activity, procedures and aims were described: slice the rib cage without damage, identify the organs, ensure the heart is still beating and remove heart, digestive systems, liver, kidney and brain. The removed organs were to be placed in petridish with saline solution in order to prevent contamination.
The students divided themselves into pairs and shared a rat between with the exception of few who handled everything alone. When started, stern eyes were seen from everyone and subtle discussion could be heard on how to handle the rat. In most cases, one of the pair held the rat, whilst the other used a scalpel to incise. The attitudes varied from some with already professional expression and swift motions to some with nervousness and confusion explicit on their face. ‘I have a mixed feeling about this. It’s disturbing, yet interesting’, Sean commented, ‘now I really know how organs look like and how to cut now.”
The last task for all was to remove the brain. This process was done slowly and carefully, so as not to get it wrong and mess up the whole thing. ‘The brain was the most challenging part’, Wei Jian stated, ‘because the skull was encasing it.’
Despite the serious name ‘rat dissection’, the environment was focused and humorous at the same time with very supportive instructors. Rather comical talks such as describing the liver’s texture as deflated balloon and suggesting the gender of the rat could easily be found by the presence of ‘balls’. This easily eased the tension of the room, if there ever was.
Although it could have been a challenging endeavour, since it was the first time, everyone enjoyed and gained new experience from this activity. ‘What I gained from this is the anatomy of a rat and how similar it is to human body we learned.’ Aiman remarked afterwards, ‘and I feel a lot braver.’
Written by: Kim Doyoon (Kate)
Editorial Board Writing Department member
Photo by: Chong Jin Xuan
