Assessing the Impact of a Ceremony in Honor of the Body Donors in the Development of Ethical and Humanistic Attitudes among Medical Students

Abstract

Activities related to body donation programs, such as donor memorial ceremonies, provide the opportunity to complement student training, especially with regard to the ethical and humanistic elements involved in medical training. This study sought to assess the impact of a ceremony in honor of the body donors has on ethical and humanistic attitudes in medical students. Medical students were surveyed about their perceptions of changes in themselves, respect for donors and donor families, and their relationship with patients. The effect of the students' contact with the family of the donor was analyzed in students who had contact with the cadaver in the dissection room and had either participated or not participated in the donor memorial ceremony. A total of 370 questionnaires were answered by first‐, second‐, and third‐year medical students at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre in 2017. The students who participated in the ceremony presented more positive responses in relation to commitment to their studies, reflection on death, and positive development of empathy when compared to those who did not attend the ceremony. Most of the students that attended the ceremony suggested the event led to an improvement in the doctor–patient relationship. These results suggest that cadaver dissection with accompanied memorial ceremony involving contact with donor families is an effective means of fostering ethical and humanistic attitudes among medical students from the beginning of the course.

Attitudes of Anatomy Students toward Commemorations for Body Donors: A Multicultural Perspective

“…The existing body of literature as well as this study, highlight that students perceive having personal information, that is, name, motivation to donate, and donor's biography as important to fulfill the humanizing goals of modern anatomy (Jones and King, 2017; da Rocha et al, 2020). The theme of heightened responsibility and reflection is also highlighted in other studies in anatomy education all of which emphasize the importance of the humanistic approach (Winkelmann and Güldner, 2004; Lin et al, 2009; Chiou et al, 2017; Štrkalj and Pather, 2017).…”

“…The study also reported that the commemoration encouraged students to reflect on ethical issues as well as a heightened sense of commitment and responsibility regarding their own learning (da Rocha et al, 2018). In another study by da Rocha and colleagues, it was suggested that a commemoration would promote greater personification of the donor as a consequence of being surrounded by donors' families thus reinforcing the long‐term bond and ethical attitude (da Rocha et al, 2020).…”

“A whole new perspective on how the body fits together”—An evaluation of a cadaver laboratory experience for high school students

“…Anatomy laboratory‐based outreach programs' goals are to expose high school and undergraduate university students to health professions and health professional education (Healy, 2011; Zhang et al, 2016; Meyer et al, 2018; Wines, 2019), provide educational opportunities for underserved students (Meyer et al, 2018; Wines, 2019), foster curiosity about human anatomy and pathology through active learning and hands‐on experience (Zhang et al, 2016; Wines, 2019; Reed, 2020), increase health literacy (Meyer et al, 2018), and inform the public about whole body donation programs for education and research (Healy, 2011). At the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre in Brazil, exemplary dissections completed by undergraduate students are temporarily displayed each year in the “Museum of Anatomy,” which members of the general public may visit, with the intended purpose being to inform them about the university's body donation program (da Rocha et al, 2020). While the goals of anatomy laboratory‐based outreach programs are well publicized, the effectiveness of these programs in achieving these goals is minimally documented.…”

The anatomist’s perspective today towards human body donation for procurement of cadavers for study of human anatomy

“…Students have often felt inspired to honour the cadaver who was their first teacher during the medical schooling years. Respecting the cadavers, the knowledge they bring in the subject of anatomy is a must and will promote further body donations by the general public [22][23][24][25]. Ceremonies to celebrate the donated cadavers have an inspirational effect on the medical students and could promote ethical and humanistic attitude among the medical students [26][27][28][29][30][31].…”