Last week in my Anatomy and Physiology class, we dissected a pig heart. It wasn’t my first time. Over the summer, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in a clinical internship at Stanford, where I also got to work with pig hearts. While the internship gave me a deeper, more technical understanding, this recent dissection felt more relaxed and easier to follow.
This time, I could appreciate the heart’s structures without the pressure of complex clinical terminology. Seeing the atria, ventricles, and valves up close again made it clear how the heart functions as a pump. I remembered the way blood flows through each chamber and how the valves prevent backflow, things I had learned in detail at Stanford but could now explain in simple terms to my classmates.
What stood out this time was how much more confident I felt. My classmates asked questions, and I found myself explaining what I had learned over the summer. It was fun to share that knowledge in a way that made sense to everyone.
Overall, this dissection showed me how much I’ve grown in understanding the human body. Whether at Stanford or in my high school class, learning hands-on always beats just reading about it in a textbook!