Anatomy Update

I love anatomy. I hate bone dust, the sound of saws, the sound of saws through bone, but I love dissecting. Today I spent about 3 hours dissecting out the submandibular region of the face. After a while, I get in a groove, losing complete sense of time, methodically probing and removing fascia to reveal the beautiful arteries, nerves, muscles, glands and such that enabled this altruistic person, now my cadaver, to sense the world, move about, speak and taste and do all the things that makes us human and who we are. I was lost in my work, humbled at finally finding the hyoglossus, a muscle that controls tongue movement, relieved to finally differentiate the submandibular duct from a vein whose name I do not yet know, inspired when I eventually came across the hypoglossal nerve and saw how it beautifully sent fibers to innervate the hyoglossus. Before I knew it, it was past 5:30pm, and me and my anatomy partner, Felipe, were the only 2 left still dissecting. It is such an honor to have this opportunity, I see people differently, I understand movements more clearly, I have such a better scientific sense of pain and feeling after traveling so many feet of nerves through the body. What once was a foreign thing, the idea of blood circulation, is obvious when you dissect out all the arteries and veins, how beautifully unique they flow, diverge, and connect as they become smaller and smaller. Yes, anatomy class is a blessing, I couldn't imagine learning medicine without it, dissections make the body real, the organ systems concrete, disease pathological. I have so much gratitude towards the men and women who bequeath their bodies for our learning. Sometimes I imagine that I'm the first person to ever dissect a body, how much attention to detail, perseverance, and dedication it took to complete the first Atlas of Human Anatomy. I wonder what it would have been like to come across the vast array of fascia, arteries, muscles, and nerves with no concept as to their function. What a thrill!