Bangkok's Institute of Forensic Medicine invites public to watch autopsies

[FM505]

idiocy has a steady drumbeat...

[flyingdoc]

As Medic, it would take me back to my Dissecting Room days!

Good idea to make anyone causing a road death, especially through drink-driving, be forced to watch. Could be a very salutary lesson indeed !

[hellodolly]

I think observing an autopsy is something rather disturbing. However, it is very useful for physiotherapists, massagetherapists, to get a better insight into human anatomy and to then propose customised treatments for their patients. These sessions are very difficult to permission to attend. When they are conducted, they are specifically tailored to issues that therapists need to know, rather then discovering the cause of death of a person.

In summary, I think making autopsy open to the public is not appropriate as it may have some long-termn negative impact on the visitor. It's already tough for therapists or medical students to see this for the first time.

Seriously...not appropriate?......of course it's not.....it's just plain <deleted>*&^%^g sick!....

Well it would not be a show I would want to attend but I have no problem with making drunk drivers watch it.

Others well I can not talk for them but I would sure wonder about them.

[geezer2]

It depends on what you want to do in life..help ppl or work in a library (figure of speech) as you wont have to deal with death but even in a library if someone pops it WHO YA GONNA CALL .. Ahhh an ambo then WHO THEY GONNA CALL

[rametindallas]

I think observing an autopsy is something rather disturbing. However, it is very useful for physiotherapists, massagetherapists, to get a better insight into human anatomy and to then propose customised treatments for their patients. These sessions are very difficult to permission to attend. When they are conducted, they are specifically tailored to issues that therapists need to know, rather then discovering the cause of death of a person.

In summary, I think making autopsy open to the public is not appropriate as it may have some long-termn negative impact on the visitor. It's already tough for therapists or medical students to see this for the first time.

"In summary, I think making autopsy open to the public is not appropriate as it may have some long-termn negative impact on the visitor."

Most likely those queuing up for front row seats are already dealing with long-term negative impact of one sort or another.

"However, it is very useful for physiotherapists, massage therapists, to get a better insight into human anatomy"

There are probably better ways to learn about human muscles & human anatomy in general than attending autopsies which tend to focus on cause of death.

My massage school sponsored a field trip to view an autopsy. We were allowed to handle the body and see what, exactly, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, fascia, and bone looked like in relation to each other. I found it very educational. Years before this, I worked in a funeral home assisting the embalmer but did not pay attention the same way I did as a massage student. I also recommend the forensic museum at Siriraj Hospital. All is clinical and not gruesome as seeing a recently deceased body in nature. There will be a select group of the population who will find this educational or interesting and I understand this is not for everyone. Some find Muay Thai a 'bloodsport'. Notice all the raw meat hanging in the 'wet' markets all over Thailand; this is not much different.

[Morakot]

[Saradoc1972]

As an aside I had to attend an autopsy as part of my training many a year ago, most of us were not over enthusiastic about it but as there may have been chance of being appointed as a coroners officer it was part of the training.

The cadaver /corpse was the remains of someone who had been fished out of the Thames I think after some days in the water, the sight and the stench was dreadful, Indeed it was intended as our baptism of a drowning death and its aftermath and the process of a post mortem.

Our group was I think about 8 strong, of that 8 strong group 4 parted contact with the contents of their stomach and one fainted. However the highlight of the session was when the surgeon actually licked the finger of his left hand I couldn't stop laughing unlike the rest of the group who were in a dreadful state of health.

The surgeon then said " well P.c. +++++++ was plainly paying rapt attention to the proceedings as he saw that I licked a finger of my left hand which had not been near the cadaver unlike the rest of you who were not paying attention to the procedure.'' This was after he had me explain to all why I was laughing. I never had to re attend the process due to my observation but my unfortunate colleagues had 2 more P.M.s to attend before being released from that section of our training.

Are you sure you're not just making this up? You are seriously expecting people to believe that the "surgeon" (aren't they called pathologists?) performed a post mortem one-handed and nobody noticed?

There would hardly be a need to make it up. That sort of thing is "standard teaching routine" and pathologists are given to having a somewhat odd humor.

I am also quite certain the audience's minds were a bit occupied, especially if it was a somewhat aged body.

I once had a story recounted to me where the professor put his index finger in a jar of horse urine and then licked a finger in front of two dozens or so students and had them do it after him individually. Most then actually licked that index finger. Instead of the the middle-finger.

That was btw not some useless prank but is training for observation and to overcome the disgust for other bodies and body fluids. Some decades ago doctors had no way to determine diabetes other than tasting their patients' urine for sweetness.

[Saradoc1972]

I once had the opportunity to witness an autopsy from the police/lawyer point of view when serving my articles.

Was some experience, though not particularly intriguing. Still, if you have a chance, go.

We had a 70-sth. old woman who had jumped to her death 4m down from her hospital window in a state of dementia, where the relatives claimed she had been given the wrong medication. Case was sort of settled when the surgeon got her brain out and flipped it over to discover a thoroughly calcified artery. Didn't need medication to loose orientation. 4m sound little, but we where explained that sort of fall could do it unless you manage a half-decent landing.

Anyway, it was a bit drawn-out booring, them taking organ after organ and measuring and weighing it, to then dump all of it nonchalantly in the breast cavity. For the two chaps from homicide department it was utter boredom, they get it every week or so and have no say anyway. Those just got called from their seats to take a picture of that brain and of the smashed lungs that were the immediate cause of death, and that was it.

Smell was not so bad, a little putrid and metallic after two days in the cooled mortuary. Surgeon had his bit of humor on me waving that brain in front of my nose, but didn't get me to flinch.

The gross thing is, when they pull that scalp over the face to saw open the skull. It's like a patch of featureless baby-pink skin where that wrinkeled face used to be. And then that chest is opened and the carcass look thrice as wide with those rip-cases turned sidewards and you see almost two inches of all that yellowed fat the lady acquired in life...

Otherwise you get all sorts of bodies. We had otherwise one 22yo body-builder with nicely defined muscles and a nice tan who had taken steroids and one 20yo pretty chick who had died of an overdose her boyfriend/pimp had inadvertently given her to shut her up.

Those were nice pretty bodies... on a slab

As I said, if you have a chance go for it once.