porcine morality

Of late, UMMC has been at the center of certain ethical controversy. A physicians' group has filed a complaint about the university's treatment of pigs in a lab for medical students. The day the article was on clarionledger.com was the day before I was supposed to do said lab. Now having done it, let me just say, IT WAS AWESOME.

On the day of, I was freaking out. I have a tendency to get light-headed around certain medical procedures, usually weird things. I thought I was partly over it, since I was fine all last semester, but some friends were talking about drawing each others' blood for practice at the Jackson Free Clinic last weekend, and somewhere between "she didn't stabilize her hand" and "I thought the needle would poke back through the skin," I had to leave the room. So it wasn't looking good for the pig lab. All day long, I went through waves of panic and self-encouragement. I prayed quite a bit.

Right beforehand, I'm getting calmer as the physiologist that ran my side of the room was explaining what would go down. Then we walk in and the barn-like smell wasn't as intense as I was expecting, but my legs were feeling a little like Jell-O. The first cut on the pig, and I have to look away. The room only spun a little, though, and I recovered quickly, but I'm thinking to myself, "This is not good. This is just the beginning."

But once I came back, I was fine for the rest of the lab. I'm pretty sure it was the praying. My apprehension went away completely, and I'm pretty sure nervousness was the only reason I got dizzy in the first place. From then on, the lab was just really interesting. I got to feel life under my hands! A beating heart, breathing lungs - these cannot be replaced by a simulator; lungs are really mushy. Also, I prefer that my first go-round with a defibrillator and heart massage be on a pig rather than a person. That's all I have to say about the legal issue.

The best thing to come from this lab is the fact that I'm no longer concerned about surgery rotations in my 3rd and 4th years. Now I know I'll be fine. God is good.

In other news, our school days have been considerably shortened without dear old gross lab. Today, I only went from 10-12, so I intend to buy some curtains this afternoon before settling in to study.

Before I go measure my windows, I would like to share this week's handy-dandy tip.

If you knock out a tooth (or your child, because they lead with their faces), pick up the tooth, rinse it off with water (do NOT brush it), and shove it back in. Then get to a dentist. If you don't get the tooth in within an hour, the connection between tooth and gum starts to break down, so it won't heal as strongly.

Happy Monday!
Erin