Reason #86 why I won't be going to medical school

Saturday, Brian & David & I went to see Bodies, The Exhibition.

For all you link-phobics who don't know, this is a collection of dead bodies, dissected and treated with a polymer to keep them preserved. As horrific as it sounds, it's actually presented very tastefully. And it's a supreme educational experience. Spend some time on the web site to get a better idea of what it's all about.

So anyway... we go down there, and inadvertantly, we haven't eaten for a few hours, so we're starving as we're walking through. It doesn't help that human muscle looks like flank steak. Or that human tendons look just like KFC. So I was simultaneously starving and queesy the whole time. It was like, "Damn I'm hungry... Oh God, this is gross... Oh man, I'm totally going to barf." Despite the constant battle not to throw up, I managed to enjoy the experience overall.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

It was like a crash course in anatomy. Lots of cool facts combined with awe-inspiring demonstrations. The rooms were separated into different parts of the body: muscles, joints, heart, lungs, digestion, reproduction, skin, etc.

In the lungs room, you could see a healthy non-smoker lung compared to a smoker's lung w/ emphysema. They had a bin next to the exhibit where you could deposit your cigarettes if you chose to stop smoking then and there. In the digestion room, you got to see a liver with cirrhosis compared to a healthy one, and in the brain room, you got to see a brain with a severe stroke compared to a normal one.

One of the most interesting parts was the fetus room. They showed preserved fetuses in each week of development. It was really shocking to see just how quickly things like skeletons and fingerprints developed. They also had some babies who died of birth defects, like one born without a frontal lobe (head) and another born with its insides on its outside. They give you the option to bypass this part of the exhibit if you don't want to see it.

Probably the thing I thought was the coolest was the person cut in half right down the middle, so you could actually see how all the organs and systems sat inside the body. So cool!

Interestingly, the bodies were all Chinese. The web site says it's cuz they have a good team of doctors at the universities there, but I think it's more about the number of "donated" or "unidentified" bodies available there.

SPOILERS ENDED

So yeah, if you get the chance, definitely check it out. Just don't go either right after or right before you're supposed to eat. Also, don't see Saw 2 the day after, cuz it'll make you feel sick again. I'm just saying.