Medical students' understanding of the concept of a soul

The aim of this research was to explore whether medical students believe in a soul and how this may affect their dissecting experience. Three questionnaires were delivered electronically to the 2011 cohort of secondyear medical students over a 2-year period. At the University of Otago, students enter medicine via three categories: Health Sciences First Year (following 1 year of university); postgraduate (following a Bachelors or higher degree); and 'other' category entry (Allied Health Professional or 3 years after a Bachelors degree). The entry category, age, ethnicity and gender of the students were collected; 51.6% of the students believed in the concept of a soul. On a scale of 1-5, students ranked the importance of religion/spirituality as 2.69. Those who believed in a soul were more likely to have a religious/spiritual component to their life and be males or 'other' category entrants. However, there were many students who believed in the soul who did not have a religious/ spiritual association, suggesting that this belief extends beyond religion. Those who believed in a soul had significantly higher anticipatory stress and experienced higher levels of stress during dissection. A higher proportion of students in the 'other' category entrants believed in the concept of the soul and also had significantly higher levels of stress during dissection. Our data suggest that a belief in a soul may affect students' experiences in dissecting. Incorporating the teaching of humanities with anatomy may help medical students as they assimilate both the biomedical and philosophical aspects of dissection.

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“…While many students held a dualistic view of the soul, there was a wide range of interpretations of the soul (Martyn et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The qualitative component explored students' definition of the soul. Students often described the soul as the 'life force' or the 'spiritual essence of a person' (Martyn et al 2013). While many students held a dualistic view of the soul, there was a wide range of interpretations of the soul (Martyn et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A belief in the soul may contribute to the stress experienced in the dissecting room

2013

Self Cite

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“…These findings confirmed those of Bohl et al (), demonstrating that students want more information and less anonymity with respect to their body donors. This high degree of interest could possibly be explained by data that have been presented by Martyn et al (). These authors demonstrated that students in the dissection course spend more time reflecting on the concept of the soul (Martyn et al, ), and that this reflection on (im)mortality represents an opportunity for further professional and personal development (Martyn et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This high degree of interest could possibly be explained by data that have been presented by Martyn et al (2013). These authors demonstrated that students in the dissection course spend more time reflecting on the concept of the soul (Martyn et al, 2012), and that this reflection on (im)mortality represents an opportunity for further professional and personal development (Martyn et al, 2013). The findings of Bohl et al (2013) are based on a considerably lower response rate (33%).…”

Section: Students' Opinionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anonymous body or first patient? A status report and needs assessment regarding the personalization of donors in dissection courses in German, Austrian, and Swiss Medical Schools

Hasselblatt

Messerer

Keis

et al. 2017

Anatomical Sciences Ed

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Many Anglo-American universities have undertaken a paradigm shift in how the dissection of human material is approached, such that students are encouraged to learn about the lives of body donors, and to respectfully "personalize" them as human beings, rather than treating the specimens as anonymous cadavers. For the purposes of this study, this provision of limited personal information regarding the life of a body donor will be referred to as "personalization" of body donors. At this time, it is unknown whether this paradigm shift in the personalization of body donors can be translated into the German-speaking world. A shift from donor anonymity to donor personalization could strengthen students' perception of the donor as a "first patient," and thereby reinforce their ability to empathize with their future patients. Therefore, this study aimed to collect data about the current status of donation practices at German-speaking anatomy departments (n = 44) and to describe the opinions of anatomy departments, students (n = 366), and donors (n = 227) about possible donor personalization in medical education. Anatomy departments in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were invited to participate in an online questionnaire. One-tenth of registered donors at Ulm University were randomly selected and received a questionnaire (20 items, yes-no questions) by mail. Students at the University of Ulm were also surveyed at the end of the dissection course (31 items, six-point Likert-scale). The majority of students were interested in receiving additional information about their donors (78.1%). A majority of donors also supported the anonymous disclosure of information about their medical history (92.5%). However, this information is only available in about 28% of the departments surveyed and is communicated to the students only irregularly. Overall, 78% of anatomy departments were not in favor of undertaking donor personalization. The results appear to reflect traditional attitudes among anatomy departments. However, since students clearly preferred receiving additional donor information, and most donors expressed a willingness to provide this information, one could argue that a change in attitudes is necessary. To do so, official recommendations for a limited, anonymous personalization of donated cadaveric specimens might be necessary. Anat Sci Educ 11: 282-293. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

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“…During the course of dissection, these students have developed coping strategies to ameliorate these behavioural responses. The second theme of responses was 'human referents' where students consider the cadaver like a "living person" having a previous life story, family, human-like appearance, and special organs like the brain and eyes [29]. In our study, we further classified the responses as cognitive, affective and moral.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%