Deceased human bodies are donated for education and research. Informed consent has become the standard for research on the living. A question could be asked on how informed are the donors and their families about the process before this generous gift is given. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the published donation forms used by body donation programs in the United States and assess them according to the guidelines published by the American Association of Clinical Anatomists. The findings of this study shows that the level of information given to donors and families, before consenting to whole body donation, varies greatly throughout the United States. Many of the forms fail to include the recommendations made by professional societies. Additional information needs to be added to whole body donation forms to better inform donors and families about the donation process, what happens to the body, and the final disposition of the bodies once studies are completed. Overall, it was concluded that in some cases consent is being obtained but much more needs to be done before institutions can claim to obtain informed consent.
In medical education, much learning occurs outside of the stated educational objectives [1]. Recognizing the potential impact of the “hidden curriculum” on professional formation, an educational intervention was designed to intentionally bring forward issues of professionalism and ethics that could be addressed through the teaching of anatomy [2,3]. This educational intervention sought to use the anatomy dissection experience as a ‘laboratory’ to teach ethics and professionalism to first year medical students (M1s). The educational intervention consisted of three components: (1) an online, pre‐laboratory preparation module, (2) the laboratory experience, and (3) a reflective post‐laboratory debriefing session. The first component included video presentations from a physician and lawyer each with training in bioethics introducing ethical and professional considerations prior to actually beginning the laboratory experience. After the laboratory experience, students engaged with an ethical case study and debriefing session. A brief survey was conducted at the conclusion of the session asking M1s to reflect on the ethical and professional impact of the experience. Students were asked to rate their responses on a 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree) scale indicating how each educational component prepared them for professional and ethical issues encountered in the laboratory. For the online, pre‐laboratory preparation, the average student response was 4.1. For the laboratory component the students gave an average rating of 4.4. For the post‐laboratory debriefing session students’ average response was 4.7. The average response when asked to rate the overall effectives of the educational intervention for learning ethics and professionalism was a 4.7. In regards to the question of how the educational intervention helped students have a greater respect for the dignity of human persons, the average response was a 4.6. Using the anatomy laboratory experience as an intentional space for teaching ethics and professionalism created opportunity for students to integrate professional and ethical formation into their education. The impact on learning in this space, and recognition of the importance of respecting the dignity of human persons was impactful. This is significant as it recognizes the possibility and effectiveness of integrating ethics and professionalism teaching into the laboratory and other curricular spaces.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.