Chapter 159: The First Practical Session
As the new students arrived, proper lectures began.
Keeping up with the specialized and systematic techniques they had never heard of or seen before was tough enough, but they commendably managed to follow the lessons well.
Those who had attended the free lectures initially had some basic knowledge, which helped them keep pace.
Having passed the entrance ceremony, Ray, now in his third week of teaching, decided it was time for their first practical session.
No amount of explanation beats seeing it once.
Ray called the students to the academys internal practice room instead of the lecture hall for the practical session, which naturally puzzled them.
Did this mean they were to practice already, without properly knowing anything yet?
Being a doctor means treating the injured, they thought, having been educated by Rays direct teaching method. Many students had no particular aversion to cutting human skin.
Some had even participated in wars, killing people firsthand, or as nobles from their domains, they had taken part in monster subjugation, making such experiences fairly common.
Upon arriving at the practice room, they saw a professor sitting on the stage.
However, what caught their eyes more than the professors presence was the animal placed on the table.
A pig?
Its a pig.
At first glance, it was obviously a pig.
Expecting something like an orc for the practical session, they felt slightly underwhelmed.
Female students with weak stomachs turned their heads quickly.
They had often seen pigs as food, but it was their first time seeing one up close like this.
Frankly, it looked quite revolting.
They didnt want to put a knife to such a creature.
As they recovered from the initial shock of seeing the pig, their eyes met with Rays, and they hurriedly bowed their heads.
Good to see you, Professor.
Good to see you, Professor.
Ray nodded at the belated greetings.
Find your seats as indicated on the blackboard. Today, we will form groups based on the assigned numbers and perform a dissection.
Dissection, you say?
A female student asked again.
Her voice betrayed her nervousness.
Are you scared?
Honestly, yes, I am scared.
Get used to it.
Ray spoke seriously and then slowly rose from his seat on the stage.
It seemed that nearly everyone had arrived.
In the practice room, just shy of a hundred students readied themselves for the practical session.
Ray had divided the class of over two hundred new students into two groups.
This made it easier to manage the lectures.
Though each class comprised roughly a hundred students, significantly more than at other academies, there was no alternative.
Each professor was responsible for about two hundred students.
With the current shortage of qualified instructors, the students had been split into classes to continue with the curriculum while still maintaining effective teaching.
Ray stood in front of the pig that lay on the desk.
The pig, appearing to be in a deep sleep, was prepared for dissection.
He thoroughly washed his hands and slipped on a pair of modified white cloth gloves.
These gloves were a special creation from the Holy Kingdom for the medical academy.
While not akin to modern latex gloves, they were sufficiently well-crafted to warrant their use.
However, being made of cloth, they could not be washed and reused.
Ray gazed at the pig and announced,
Before we begin the actual dissection, remember that it is through the sacrifice of such lives that medical progress is made possible. So observe every detail and watch carefully.
With that, the students gaze locked onto his hands and the pig.
In Rays hand, a scalpel gleamed, its shape reminiscent of a small dagger.
Despite its unfamiliar look, he did not hesitate as he cut through the pigs skin.
He made a long incision down the pigs abdomen.
Some students winced.
They likely werent accustomed to such sights.
He tilted the scalpel slightly to the side, neatly separating the pigs skin, fat, and muscles.
The process was impeccably clean.
The pigskin, now completely free of any excess, looked as if a seasoned veteran butcher had handled it.
Then, as he cut open the ribcage, the organs inside began to reveal themselves.
Without hesitation, Ray made diagonal cuts across the pigs side and lower abdomen.
The pigs abdomen opened wide, displaying the organs with clarity.
These are the organs weve learned about in diagrams and descriptions. They indeed have quite a variety of colors in reality, dont they?
Yes.
Starting from the top, let me explain
He turned the scalpel upwards, making an incision in the neck area.
From the top, these are the salivary glands, and here in the neck are the internal and external jugular veins. Below them lies the thymus, a lymphatic immune organ that mostly turns into fat in adults, as Ive explained before.
His hands moved at a steady pace even while he explained, which was remarkable.
Moreover, he skillfully avoided unnecessary parts while continuously moving the scalpel.
There were no unnecessary injuries. His delicate touch seemed to echo the skills of swordsmanship.
As Rays hands moved further down, he picked up speed.
The lungs have the vocal cords, esophagus, and trachea attached, so be careful when separating them. As you can see, the left lung is smaller than the right one. This is because the heart is also on the left side, unlike the right. The heart is
While speaking, Ray carefully removed the lungs to expose the heart in detail.
This is what it looks like, and this slightly blue part is the atrium, while the part that looks like it has holes is the ventricle. The area occupied by the ventricle is much larger than that of the atrium.
The upper part is the right ventricle, and the lower part is the left ventricle. If you touch it, youll feel that the left ventricle is thicker.
Ray opened the valve between the left ventricle and the aorta.
Inside, he found structures resembling cartilage or ligaments, which turned out to be the meniscus.
His scalpel glided past the diaphragm, situated below the heart and lungs, toward the lower organs.
As he unveiled the peritoneal cavity, spleen, umbilical vein, and urogenital tract, the students, now desensitized to the sight, accepted the display with little trouble.
Yet, one nagging thought persistedit felt as though they were black magicians crafting a chimera.
After all, dissecting and manipulating bodies was a hallmark of black magicians.
Despite being a professor, he was also revered as a saint.
It seemed peculiar for such a figure to perform tasks in the practice room that were commonly attributed to black magicians.
Having finished dissecting the pig, Ray set his scalpel aside.
Dissection feels like this, he explained. As I demonstrated, classify and separate each part. Ill be grading each group, so make sure not to hold each other back.
Yes.
Groups one to five, begin your dissections immediately. You have one hour.
Understood.
Having given his instructions, Ray took a seat on the stage and surveyed the room.
Contrary to his directive, no group had commenced the actual task.
He waited with patience.
It was their first attempt, and some hesitation was to be expected.
Perhaps they were mulling over how to execute the procedure flawlessly.
Ray considered himself a benevolent man. A five-minute wait was trivial to him.
But as a silent standoff ensued, dragging on for fifteen minutes, his patience wore thin.
The pig wasnt dead; it was merely sedated. Quick dissection was preferable.
If they continued to idle as they were, not even a sword master could survivemuch less the pig.
Ray, who prided himself on his gentleness and patience, lost his composure.
You lot! The pig is going to die!
With his shout, the dissection by the five groups truly began.
No one had dared to start earlier, feeling as though they were about to perform black magic, but now they could no longer hesitate for fear that magic might strike from behind.
Feeling the urgency, they all grabbed scalpels and commenced the dissection of the pig.
Is this the lung?
Ah!
Yikes! What will we do if we cut the lung?
Sorry. I was trying to open the ribcage and made a mistake
Mistakes were common among the five groups.
Even though they knew the terms, the practical application was unfamiliar to them.
Unsure of where everything was, they relied on their learned knowledge to proceed with the dissection.
My hands are shaking.
Stay calm. Well handle the lower part; just focus on dissecting the heart and lungs first.
Dont touch that part. I saw the kidneys around there when the professor demonstrated.
Ill be careful.
Their collaboration was encouraging.
Groups of six or seven assembled, shared ideas, and met challenges. Eventually, the dissection began to look proper.
But to Ray, it was a complete disaster.
It was difficult to discern whether it was a dissection of the lungs or intestinesit was that butchered.
Understanding the structure and familiarizing oneself with it was crucial, but the lack of skill made him pity the pig.
Before an hour elapsed, one group confidently announced their completion.
Professor, weve finished the dissection.
We cant believe we did it ourselves. Hahaha.
Ray glanced at them, their joy evident in their words.
Their dissection was indeed unbelievable.
It resembled more an act of turning the pig into minced meat.
The heart and kidneys were acceptable, but the rest was too roughly done.
They were earnest, yet this was the result.
Ray addressed them slowly,
The heart was well separated into the ventricle and atrium. You extracted the arteries well, and the location of the pulmonary artery was clear. The kidneys were neatly removed without excess, which is a pass. But the rest is too lacking. Its so messy it makes me wonder if you really paid attention to the position and texture during dissection. This is a fail.
Their confident shoulders drooped at his words.
If the first group, which seemed to be doing well, ended up like this, the expressions of the remaining four groups were, needless to say, disheartened.
Not just them, but the remaining sixty or so students who hadnt yet participated in the dissection also looked quite somber.
Standing in the back and watching their dissection work, they had been impressed, but the professors assessment was brutally honest.
Indeed, comparing the pig dissected by him with their own, the difference was stark.
While the task of dissection was daunting, part of them desired to receive praise.
At that moment, a male student from the fourth group and a female student from the fifth group stood out. Their hands were noticeably quicker than those of their peers.
It was as if they had prior experience with such tasks.
The way they meticulously handled the organs and removed unnecessary fat was quite professional.
It wouldnt be an exaggeration to say that they led the dissection work.
Pretty good, thought Ray.
He said to them,
When doing a dissection, everyone should at least do as well as them.
It was indeed a problem. They couldnt always get pigs, and turning them into minced meat like this was not acceptable.
The expressions of the two students brightened slightly upon hearing Rays faint praise.
Conversely, Rays face showed a hint of curiosity.
It seems like more than a one-time skill I should keep an eye on them, just in case.
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