Imagine being told that your school is offering an opportunity to dissect a human’s leg. Would you want to do the dissection? Some people may immediately say yes and be excited, and others may give a hard pass and try not to think of that sight. 

Del Val students in the biomedical academy, and those that were taking biomed classes were offered this unique opportunity to work with an orthopedic surgeon and physician’s assistant to dissect a cadaver’s leg. 

Junior, Meredith Levy, participated in the cadaver lab and felt that she learned a lot. 

“Seeing just how amazing and complicated the human body is showed me how hard of a job surgeons and other medical professionals have when trying to treat patients,” Levy said. “I gained a new level of respect for all those in the medical field who are trying to understand the complexity of the human body in order to save lives.”

Del Val science supervisor, Stacy Grady, was initially grossed out when St. Luke’s reached out to her about this opportunity, but realized that this could be beneficial for students in biomed. 

“This is a unique opportunity for students enrolled in Biomed Academy classes to experience first-hand what a surgeon does on a daily basis,” Grady said. “Students can determine whether or not they really like surgery before it costs them a lot of money in college. It’s valuable to know what students want to do, as well as what they don’t want to do.”

Biomed students were offered to actively participate in the dissection or watch it in the seats of the auditorium. Those who wanted to perform the dissection were required to fill out an application and be interviewed by a St. Luke’s employee. 

Jim Reidy and Dave Nicholson are athletic trainers at St. Luke’s who were impressed by the Del Val students’ applications and interviews. 

“Part of the process that we put them through was to interview them and make them a little bit uncomfortable, challenge them,” Reidy said. “But some of the answers the students gave were incredible. My brain was not thinking those things at their ages.”

Del Val students worked hand-in-hand with orthopedic surgeon, Alex Johnson, and orthopedic surgeon physician’s assistant, Emma Fink. During this time, different parts of the leg were dissected with each student group working on a specific part.

“There is so much going on inside our bodies we don’t even think about, systems upon systems of muscles, nerves, and joints that all work together to help us function,” Levy said. 

The cadaver dissection was a success, generating positive feedback from students and teachers. 

“The support and excitement surrounding this dissection was amazing, so we definitely want to continue to provide this opportunity to future biomed academy students,” Grady said. “We don’t know what types, but we are eager to do this again.”