On Dec 5, the BioScience Center of Excellence took their annual trip to the University of Minnesota’s Visible Heart Laboratories where they had the novel opportunity to hold a beating pig’s heart.
In the lab, the students watched as the director of the Visible Heart Laboratories, Dr. Paul Iaizzo, performed a sternotomy on the anesthetized pig which vertically divided the sternum and allowed access to the chest cavity. The inflating lungs and pulsating heart were now visible to the captivated students.
Dr. Iaizzo provided the students with gloves, and one-by-one they reached into the chest cavity and felt the blood get pulled into the heart and forced out in the blink of an eye. They palpated the coronary arteries and examined as the heart miraculously supplied blood to not only the whole body but to itself as well.
This moment was dividing for students. Many were enthralled as they held the beating heart in their hands, but some were repulsed by this experience. The BioScience COE director, Dr. Maren LaLiberty, knew either reaction was inevitable, and she said, “I think that is one experience where some people think no I don’t want anything to do with blood or people, and that’s good, and that’s really important to know.”
In a more positive light, Zadie Abel ‘26 said, “My biggest takeaway is that I do really like cardiothoracic surgery, I can stomach it, and I saw just how powerful the heart is.”
Outside of holding the heart, students learned how the world’s first successful open heart operation was pioneered at the University of Minnesota, and they developed the first pacemaker just a few years later. Dr. Iaizzo gave a presentation on the University’s history with surgery, and the students learned about the luminaries of cardiothoracic treatments.
The BioScience COE aims to prepare students who are interested in health sciences as early as possible. The Visible Heart Lab allowed students to receive firsthand experience that could determine their future career in healthcare.