by Traci Tran
Extremely weary from working two graveyard shifts at the hospital in a row, Meredith, an OU medical student, rushed to the break room to rest a bit before she had to be on the hospital floor again.
“Okay, I’ve got one hour to take a nap…” Meredith thought to herself.
In no time she drifted off to sleep and soon after she started to have this weird dream…
Although
she had completed her classes in medical school
already, in Meredith’s dream it was the first day all over again. She and her fellow classmates were in
Cadaver Anatomy. She was excited to
learn everything there was to know about the human body but at the same
time a
little nervous because she had heard from older students that the
professor was
a little nutty.
The
professor started talking about the importance of the
five senses and how doctors should be able to utilize each one
effectively. He then proceeded to talk
about how hours upon hours would be spent with each student's
designated cadaver. Therefore, it only
made sense to “get to know your cadaver very well.”
So,
the professor told the students to do as he does.
The professor then proceeded to stick his gloved finger in the muscle
of the
cadaver and lick his finger!
Meredith
let out a groan of disgust in her deep
sleep. No doubt about it.
This dream was turning into a nightmare.
Looking
around, Meredith saw reluctant students do the
same. Many faces were made
afterwards…and none of them pleasant ones.
Trying not to gag, Meredith fought the knot in her stomach and
did the
same. She instantly had this urge to
throw up and regretted ever wanting to be a doctor.
After
all of the students had followed the Professor’s
lead, the first lesson was complete.
The
professor said to the students, “Future doctors, I
thought I told you to pay attention to your five senses.
You should have used your visual senses to notice that I stuck my
pointer finger in the body, but licked my middle finger. Class
dismissed.”
Meredith woke up abruptly with a sick feeling in her stomach, but at the same time relieved that it was just a dream! She had heard this urban legend before and was glad that she had not experienced it in real life.
“Wonder what made me dream about that… weird!” Meredith thought to herself. But she didn’t have much time to think about it because it was time for her to begin her third graveyard shift at the hospital…
Author’s
Note
I found a version of this story on
snopes.com. It
was mostly the same except the version on
the web page had the students trying a urine sample (which is equally
disgusting). I changed the urine to the
cadaver because I have heard that version told by my Anatomy professor
last
fall. We were all pretty grossed out
when we heard it, so I thought it would be a good story to tell!
I’m not sure if any professor has really
tried this “lesson,” but I know to pay close attention if this ever
comes up,
and hopefully you will too!
Keep going.....!