Jasmine Belton, MLS (ASCP) – VCOM-Louisiana Anatomy Lab Supervisor
The anatomy year as a first-year medical student is special, and it looks different for everyone.
Some students come in with prior anatomy knowledge or experience working with a cadaver donor. For them, the year can be a refresher and an opportunity to dive deeper into what they already know or even work with a faculty member on research. Others may know anatomy but have never experienced cadaver-based anatomy, so they may have a learning curve.
Then there are students for whom this is a first-time experience through and through. Some come in hesitant, and some come in eager to learn. Either way, the staff, faculty, and interns are there to help them and coach them through any anxieties they may have. They leave the lab confident that they tackled a difficult subject.
One of my favorite things to see is when a student connects something they have studied to their donor. You can see their eyes light up when they make that connection. This matters because, in the real world, patients do not always look like the textbook. Students need to get used to unexpected variations because the human body is so unique. Even from year to year, what we see in the anatomy lab is different. That is the beauty of anatomy.
At the end of the anatomy experience, students can reflect on the year through the Anatomy Patient Presentation program and Donor Memorial Ceremony. During the patient presentation, students present posters about their donor, who is often referred to as their “first patient,” and share what they learned through the experience. The patient presentation program is followed by the Donor Memorial Ceremony, where students come together to recognize and thank donors who made their education possible. Students also write letters of gratitude to their donors’ families.
For me, the ceremony is meaningful because I have seen what happens before students ever get to that point. Students are given very limited information about their donors, and they do not know their names. We do not know the donors’ full stories. But throughout the year, students sometimes get glimpses into those stories through what they discover in the lab.
It might be evidence of past surgeries or pathological findings. Sometimes they recognize a disease that affected someone they know personally. Those moments can help them understand and empathize with what their donor experienced.
I have heard some students begin lab by greeting their donor or inviting their donor into some of the laboratory banter. I think that is their way of humanizing the experience. It helps them remember that this is not just an anatomy assignment. There is a bigger picture.
Working with a donor gives students an opportunity to think, “What would I want my family member to be treated like? and “What kind of care would I hope they receive?” As a first-year medical student, they get to think about those questions before they even begin their clinical rotations.
The lab also teaches lessons that have nothing to do with anatomy. Because we operate a closed lab, students learn how to organize and clean. I think it is important for them to recognize that someone is always working behind the scenes to make sure they can do their jobs well. Hopefully that gives them an appreciation for the nurses, CNAs, medical laboratory staff, and everyone they will work alongside in the future. All those people are part of patient care.
As the anatomy lab supervisor, I have a responsibility to the donors and the students. It is a year-long commitment, from bringing the donors here and caring for them while they are here, to making sure they return home to their families.
By the time the students reach the Donor Memorial Ceremony, anatomy staff have watched students go from strangers to lab mates. Anatomy can be tough, and they can rely on each other to get through it. The ceremony gives everyone a chance to pause and reflect on the year.
Students leave the lab differently than when they entered. A lot goes into making that year successful. It takes selfless donors, the faculty and interns who prepare and support the lab, and the students who give their all.
When students walk into the anatomy lab, they are learning about the human body. By the time they leave, I hope they have also learned that responsibility comes with caring for another person.
