Participating in the fetal pig dissection was an eye-opening experience. Seeing the pig open and dissected helped me to better understand how the body systems are connected; both in pigs and in humans. Additionally, getting to hold and inspect the tissue and organs myself, helped to deepen my understanding of the connections of structure and function. Moreover, I had the opportunity to learn more about the body that I did not know before. For example, I was not aware that there was a layer of tissue called the pericardium, that is meant to keep the heart in place and from being jostled around during movement. Before, I did not know such structures existed, and moreso just thought that the all organs remained in place because the body cavity was so stuffed full of organs.
Challenges that I faced during the dissection was firstly getting over the smell, and getting over the unappealing sight of organs and an actual dead animal. However, after spending some time around the fetal pig, and dissecting the fetal pig myself, I became used to both the smell and the sight. In truth, I feel as though now I can become a surgeon, or actually be able to go into the medical field and not be as queasy around such sights. Another challenge was the actual dissection. Having to make sure to cut the right tissue, or cut deep or shallow enough was a real challenge. For example, I remember separating the brain from the skull was particularly hard, as my team and I had to make sure not to cut too deep, but also deep enough to make it through the skull.
In all, I believe that this fetal pig dissection was a great opportunity to learn more about how all the body systems connect, and to just learn more about the body in general. One question that remains is how surgeons train in order to cut into the human body with such precision, because already doing such a task with an already decreased animal was very difficult. Thus, I cannot imagine the pressure and precision required to cut into a living human-being, a lot of the time, a life being on the line. 
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