Be still my beating heart — it’s just a small sting.
Oregon State University’s Medical Sciences Club led a pig heart dissection Thursday in the Learning Innovation Center.
“I didn’t do any background research so it was kind of a lot to handle all at once,” first-year biochemistry and biophysics major Ryoma Saita said. “But I was really glad I did it.”
Over a hundred students attended, multiple of whom are on the pre-med track of their respective majors. Groups of two and three had individual trays and instruction pamphlets to work through the dissection alongside the demonstration.
The process was led by Gavin Hoellrich, third-year bioengineering major and treasurer of the club, who performed the example dissection, guiding students through the cuts and giving background information on each chamber of the heart as the dissection went on.
Hoellrich was walked through the dissection process the day prior by an anesthesiologist to make sure he was prepared to demonstrate.
A complementary slideshow was also shown, detailing the functions of each part of the heart students were looking at.
Saita plans to bring this experience with him moving forward. “I’m just excited about like, maybe in the future during one of my classes they’re going to be like ‘This is a heart, aorta,’ and I’ll be like ‘Oh, I’ve seen that before.”
Devon Quick, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, donated trays, scalpels and other tools for the club to use in their demonstration, according to third-year biology major and club Public Relations Officer, Aya Mackensen.
“I was having a really good time because while I was cutting, I was like ‘Oh, that’s what it looks like,’” Saita said.
He heard about the event through a reposted story from the club’s Instagram.
“I just love seeing people so excited to be dissecting hearts and everyone get in all hyped up,” Mackensen said.
Mackensen shared the club currently has over 400 signed-up members, and others can join through Oregon State’s clubs and organizations site.
Saita said he was going to follow the club’s events calendar moving forward, and noted feeling different post-dissection.
“I’m a more knowledgeable person than I was an hour ago, and I would really love to do this again,” Saita said.
