Reflection Prior to Dissection

To most people the most fearful part of Poultry Physiology is the classwork, all the memorization of hormones and what they all do, but to me that is not the worst part because I am somewhat familiar with all the hormones, organs, and their purposes because I have already taken human anatomy and physiology. To me the most nerve-wrecking part of POUL 3150 is not all the hormones, pathways, or anatomical terminology we must learn for the class; it is the dissecting the bird that scares me. I have had human anatomy and psychology 1 & 2 prior to taking this course, and throughout both classes in lab we had to dissect a cat, multiple times; however, the cat had been preserved, sprayed with a preserving agent, and had no smell. Unfortunately, I learned in Dr. Berry’s Introduction to Poultry class’ lab that when a chicken is dissected it is nothing like dissecting a preserved cat. First off, the chicken was killed only an hour, maximum, before the dissection began, so that meant the chicken was still warm and there was still blood coursing through its veins. Second, unlike the preserved cat that I had dissected in the past, when dissecting a chicken there is a strong odor present. This odor is not just a funny smell; it is an odor that will make your stomach turn upside down. I am most nervous about being so focused on not getting nauseous from the smell of dissecting the chicken that I will not be able to even concentrate on finding the organs, veins, glands, etc. that I am supposed to be looking for. My biggest fear is that I am not going to be able to handle the dissecting process and this will lead to me not doing well in the lab portion of this class. Also, I am nervous about the timed practical, anytime that something is timed it gives me anxiety and makes me forget everything I have learned. Although I am very nervous about the dissections, I am looking forward to finding out the answers to a lot of my “why?” questions throughout physiology and I know that this cannot be answered properly without the hands-on dissection, but I am nervous that the smell of the dissection will make me sick. Even though I am very nervous about the lab portion of this class I know that it will all be worth it and that I will come out with so much knowledge that will help better prepare me for the career ahead of me that all the nasty smells will be completely worth it. I plan to just keep reminding myself that preceding last semester I did not know anything about poultry period, and now I am making great grades in my poultry classes, passionate about the poultry industry, and looking forward to getting more hands-on experience in the industry, so unknown territories are not always so bad.

---