Just before you put your white coats on….
Thou art dust, and unto dust thou shall return, so we have heard and read, perhaps even felt its truth in life before. However, to see time peel off lost life’s remains holds on entirely different sense of our composition. If I were to describe the scenes in a poetic fashion, the words mingling with the pictures inside my head would produce the imagery of a haunted set up.
Dripping fluid off cadavers, opened up hearts, slices of eyelids and slides of an eyelash, skeletons and a bunch of bare brains, only a synopsis to what was seen. But this was everything one could see in a medical school.
This was our very own Goa Medical College, a dream Institute for thousands of medical aspirants. The students of Class XII, Mushtifund Aryaan Higher Secondary School along with the Director of the Institute, Mr. Vyankatesh Prabhudesai and Senior faculty members of Biology, Mrs. Venetia Fernandes and Dr. Ketan Sardessai and a staff member, had an opportunity like none before to visit, and in doing so, learn of the depth of the river which soon they would be stepping into.
The visit began with Pathology , and therein labs where tests were conducted. There were glass slides with the slices of bone marrow, and stains of blood. Students were shown how the computer could check the blood for abnormalities, and normal conditions, alike, for example, the haemoglobin content. Dr. Rocha, from the Pathology Dept. was kind enough to patiently explain the students about the workings involved in pathology.
Amidst all this, the students also visited the museum, where organs with various disorders pertaining to them were preserved in formaldehyde. Organs ranging from the liver, to the kidney, to the gonads, and even preserved fetuses, be it premature or diseased, were kept. They also saw frames of great scientists, those who left their mark in medical history, like John Hunter, the Father of Scientific Surgery.
The Dept. of Radiology was where we saw the infamous scans, the CT, which was explained to us by the medical resident there, and MRI was also intriguing to watch. We then headed to see a glimpse of the high quality renovated lecture halls and auditorium.
Soon after, they were shown the dissection hall, the most awaited, where a skeleton and a bunch of bare brains were left outside for the purpose of study. Seeing the slides of an eyelid and eyelash under the microscope was a great experience as well.
In the room where the cadavers to be dissected were kept was where the students were eager to visit. Of course, the smell, and formalin irritating their nose and eyes didn’t matter to them, they were so absorbed by what a kind professor was showing to them..
The organs may not have been fresh and bloody, but they were organs, alright. One could clearly see the demarcations, for example, the valves inside the heart, which were also shown. A limb that had separated from its body was placed along the stretcher that sat in the small room, and as one saw the skin peeling off it, one also saw the muscles, and the bone marrow lying underneath.
Cardiology was the next destination of visit, where the students were shown how the Echocardiogram was done, thanks to a cooperative patient, who didn’t mind the many people that entered the room in batches to learn.
Moving on, there was the Neurology Dept. where we learnt that majority of patients who were admitted, were due to road accidents, and the remaining due to tumors and aneurysms. It was Dr. Ponraj Sundaram who explained everything to the students beautifully.
Furthermore, there was orthopedics, where, once again they were told of the fact that the majority of patients there were from sites of a road accident. The Paediatrics ward, however, melted the hearts of the students.
The Plastic and burns unit, which was recently set up, was where the students had the opportunity to the new high quality facilities and fully equipped unit for burn patients. They also the area where surgeons could scrub in, and take on their surgeries and made aware of the high level of hygiene that must be maintained.
Finally, the students visited the Morgue where amidst the bodies, there was one which had been two old, and another which was many more. The stark contrast between the two of them, was enlightening, if one were t think about it.
The visit may have ended there with that, however, this was the beginning of a reassured inclination towards this field for after seeing the different departments, the memory will play the scenes behind the student’s minds for days to come.. And there are people, very important to for that, Dr. Pramila Da Rocha ( Pathology) and Dr. Vanita Da Silva ( PSM) who patiently guided us through the corridors of GMC, despite their tight schedule. Most importantly, I take this opportunity to thank our Director, Mr. Vyankatesh Prabhudesai, without whom, this experience were to only remain a dream..
– Prepared by Vidula Dempo, STD XII