Background: Students get their first experiences of dissecting human cadavers in the practical classes of anatomy. These experiences may help in their profession, but may also create some problems for students Aims: To find out the attitudes and reactions of medical students to the dissection room.

Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted on 309 first year MBBS students at the local college of Lahore with no previous experience of cadaver dissection. Students were filled a questionnaire. The questionnaire designedwas based to identify the feelings and problems faced by the students in their first exposure to the human cadaver. Results: Almost 25% students experience no symptom on first entry into the dissecting room. The commonest symptoms of 75% students were insomnia, dizziness, sweating, loss of appetite and palpitation. Other symptoms reported were breathlessness, skin irritation, irritation of the eye, etc. Focusing on task was the main coping strategy used by majority of students. Conclusion: The majority of the students initially experience nausea and fear that may reduce with time while excitement and interest had increased on ensuing exposure to dissection.Study concluded that the negative effect of dissection room on students is less than the benefits of dissection of cadaver. Anticipation felt by the students to learn dissecting the cadaver was relatively high.

Keywords: Cadaver, Dissection room, Medical students