Medical Project Week Two

I did not do an entry last week because I took that week off due to shadowing the week before. Thus, this is still my week two as well despite not posting last week.

This week, my plan was to pick either a system of the body or to pick one autopsy video and to research things about either of the two that I chose, and with that information produce anatomical artwork, as I had done a fine job with creating such works in the past. I would do multiple works for whichever video/system I chose that week. But after drawing a questionable looking thymus (to say it in the most appropriate way as possible) as well as having trouble focusing on the project, I decided to change it a bit, and the change was carried out on Thursday.

On Thursday and Friday of this week, I began watching videos showing parts of autopsies. On Thursday, I watched two videos showing the general removal of most organs and some details as to how those organs are examined as well. It was interesting to see the slight differences in procedures between the two videos, such as *ok I’m going to be describing something very slightly graphic here and I guess I’ll do a break in the text after I’m finished to let anyone who doesn’t want to read it know that I’m finished despite it not being an optimal place in my narrative to put one* how in the first video, the skull cap was removed by making an outline with a manual saw and then was actually removed by using a hammer and chisel, whereas in the second video, an electric saw was used. The first video also did a straight line cut across the body rather than a Y-cut, whereas the second used the latter. Getting to the heart was also different in the first and second videos, and I could go on and on about the minutiae as per my personality type, however I can save the minutiae for those who would like to hear about it. I have plenty of notes on all of it.

Both of these videos I watched Thursday were more about general procedures of an autopsy and did not go into detail on the patient’s cause of death very much. There was mentioning of when an organ was abnormal, and the second video mentioned what the original guess of the woman’s cause of death was before the procedure. Omitting that kind of information may have been for privacy reasons as well as the point of the videos being to show what a general autopsy looks like rather than to show/mention every detail.

Today/Friday, I watched a video that covered information about different types of wounds/means of killing. It used images/footage of wounds from various autopsies. Things specifically covered were:

• How to determine the general range of gunshot wounds and the characteristics of contact, close range, and distant shot wounds. Also mentions the variation of these things due to the type of gun and ammunition as well as any irregularities that can happen.
• The same set of information as the last point for shotguns specifically, as their many projectiles and wadding (or even the ones that fire single slugs instead) make the variables very different.
• What the types of bunt force wounds are (contusion, abrasion, laceration), what types of instruments are likely to cause them, how they are caused, and how much they can tell about exactly what occurred before death.
• What the types of sharp force wounds are (incised and stab wounds) as well as the rest of the types of information in the blunt force section. Also distinguishes between blunt/sharp force and explains how sometimes it can actually be hard to tell between the two and the best ways to do so.
• What causes asphyxia (hanging, strangling/throttling, choking, and general suffocation – which is what asphyxia is. The video goes into detail on how to tell if each of these things is a result of suicide, homicide, or is a general accident (depending on which of kind of asphyxia, of course; certain motives don’t apply to all types of asphyxia) and mentions what things to look for in each case.
• A brief section on Battered Child Syndrome which mentions what types of injuries are most common in this situation and brings up many things from each of the past categories and apply them to this situation.

In these two days after the project change, I have already learned a lot of fascinating information, such as the usage of different equipment for the same tasks depending on the doctor as I mentioned in the slightly graphic part. I learned many fun facts (fun here being used as not literal of course, as a few of them are gruesome but fall under what is outstanding enough to be considered one) and am denoting them in my notes by putting an x symbol by the bullet point of the fact in question. I will share one more for today, however. Apparently a death by choking on food is sometimes referred to as a “café coronary,” which is honestly a bit comical. I figured someone would appreciate that.

About my notes though, I have filled up eleven pages front to back so far in these two days (six today) and at this rate, I have a feeling I will have the whole notebook full by the time this is over. It is a bit smaller than a typical one but is perfect for this, as it featured anatomical art of a brain on its cover. I have my notes organized in symbolized bullet points which I will continue to do throughout the project and will explain during the presentation if it feels noteworthy/I have time to talk about minutiae like that.

As for what I plan to do these next weeks, I have found plenty more videos to work with as well as people who actually livestream autopsies which I may utilize. I also have plenty I can read as well if I need to, though I am sure video material will be all I need as well as some possible interactive autopsy material I could work with. Next week, I plan to watch videos on causes of death similar to the one I watched today, except with causes like disease rather than by weapons or force. At any rate, I plan to take plenty of notes.

I will also be compiling a page with all the links of the videos I have watched just in case anyone has any interest as well as a general way to keep track of my sources.

Here are photos of my notebook and how far I’ve gotten at this point. I am not sure why they turn sideways, but that seems to be a common theme with all my photos on this website.