Slicing through Thin Layers of Humanity: Narratives of the Abject

Zwier, Robin Kanak

doi:10.1007/s10912-020-09613-x

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Experiencing disgust in the face of the abject, students who had previously constructed responsible and compassionate caregiver identities subsequently depicted themselves as overwhelmed and dependent. The importance of abjection has been previously explored in relation to nursing practice and cadaver dissection24 25 27 but we have demonstrated for the first time its relevance to clinical placements in medical education.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…The link between medical students’ identity construction and emotions has also been acknowledged, along with the importance of learning to recognise and manage emotions more effectively. 4 Although the paper by Zwier 25 introduces the theory of abjection in relation to cadaver dissection, the medical education literature has yet to address the emotion of disgust and the response of abjection in the context of clinical placements, which are the focus of this paper.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An analysis of medical student narratives about their dissection of cadavers drew on psychoanalytic theory and abjection. 25 It provided insight into the way physicians create emotional distance from cadavers—and their patients who may be approaching death. Although emotional defences serve a purpose, they have limits and often break down.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Disgust and the abject have received very limited attention in the medical education literature. An analysis of medical student narratives about their dissection of cadavers drew on psychoanalytic theory and abjection 25. It provided insight into the way physicians create emotional distance from cadavers—and their patients who may be approaching death.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identity construction in medical student stories about experiences of disgust in early nursing home placements: a dialogical narrative analysis

2022

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ObjectivesTo explore medical students’ reflective essays about encounters with residents during preclinical nursing home placements.DesignDialogical narrative analysis aiming at how students characterise residents and construct identities in relation to them.SettingMedical students’ professional identity construction through storytelling has been demonstrated in contexts including hospitals and nursing homes. Some preclinical students participate in nursing home placements, caring for residents, many living with dementia. Students’ interactions with these residents can expose them to uncontained body fluids or disturbing behaviour, evoking feelings of disgust or fear.ParticipantsReflective essays about experiences as caregivers in nursing homes submitted to a writing competition by preclinical medical students in New Zealand.ResultsDescribing early encounters, students characterised residents as passive or alien, and themselves as vulnerable and dependent. After providing care for residents, they identified them as individuals and themselves as responsible caregivers. However, in stories of later encounters that evoked disgust, some students again identified themselves as overwhelmed and vulnerable, and residents as problems or passive objects. We used Kristeva’s concept of abjection to explore this phenomenon and its relationship with identity construction.ConclusionsProviding personal care can help students identify residents as individuals and themselves as responsible caregivers. Experiencing disgust in response to corporeal or psychic boundary violations can lead to abjection and loss of empathy. Awareness of this possibility may increase students’ capacity to treat people with dignity and compassion, even when they evoke fear or disgust. Medical education theory and practice should acknowledge and address the potential impact of strong negative emotions experienced by medical students during clinical encounters.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Identity construction in medical student stories about experiences of disgust in early nursing home placements: a dialogical narrative analysis

2022

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“…It is not uncommon during anatomy courses for students’ initial emotions about dissection to become subverted to the focus needed to study the course content (Finkelstein and Mathers, 1990; Chang et al, 2018; Romo Barrientos et al, 2019b). However, students do continue to have emotional reactions to the activities in the laboratory, often intermittently or at unexpected moments, and these emotions often change and evolve over time (Smith and Kleinman, 1989; Zwier, 2020). By exposing and normalizing at the outset of the course the reality that all students have emotional reactions to dissection, anatomy faculty can establish a shared conversation in the class that allows learners continue to acknowledge these feelings throughout the course.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anticipatory Feelings About Dissection: An Exercise for the First Day of a Gross Anatomy Course

Zumwalt

2021

Anatomical Sciences Ed

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Studies have demonstrated that students experience a variety of intense emotions in anticipation of human anatomical dissection, including enthusiasm, gratitude, responsibility, apprehension, detachment, anxiety, and spiritual or moral reflection. The exercise described here provides an opportunity to start a conversation about the complexity of students' emotional reactions to the anatomy experience. The intention of this exercise is to normalize the variety of emotions that anatomy students experience, both to demonstrate to students that their emotions are normal and to encourage the empathy for others' reactions which may differ from their own. In the lecture hall setting before the first day of dissection, students are asked to draw how they feel about the dissection experience and are provided an opportunity to discuss their drawings with their peers. The course director then provides a slide show demonstration of drawings from previous years, and experienced anatomy faculty facilitate a large group discussion in which students react to the drawing exercise and slide show and ask questions which are addressed by the faculty. This exercise provides an opportunity for students to practice appropriately communicating about emotionally complex experiences in a professional setting. The exercise is straightforward to implement and is easily modifiable for different class sizes and curricular structures. Anat Sci Educ 14: 828-835.

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„In dem Moment habe ich mich sehr erschreckt …“ Was Medizin-Studierende nach dem anatomischen Präparierkurs ihren Körperspendern mitteilen wollen

et al. 2021

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Zusammenfassung Fragestellung Viele medizinische Fakultäten laden zu Erinnerungs- und Dankfeiern im Anschluss an den Kursus der Makroskopischen Anatomie ein. Im Hinblick auf eine bio-psycho-sozio-spirituell orientierte Aus-, Fort- und Weiterbildung untersucht die vorliegende Studie implizite Gefühle und Gedanken von Medizinstudierenden während der Feier, die Leib-/Körper-Differenzierung und die spirituellen Aspekte des medizinischen Unterrichtes. Methode Wir untersuchten 1653 kurze Texte, mit denen sich Studierende an die Körperspender wandten. Davon enthielten 140 auffällige Latenzen. Im Rahmen eines interdisziplinären Workshops identifizierten wir sechs Fälle, die wir mit zwei Verfahren der objektiven Hermeneutik bearbeiteten (Sequenzanalyse und Tiefenhermeneutik). Ergebnisse Während fortschreitender Entpersönlichung des im Verlauf des Präparierkurses fragmentierten Leichnams entsteht in den Studierenden die Repräsentanz einer Person „hinter“ dem anatomischen Objekt. Beim Abfassen des kurzen Textes an den Spender stellt die Bewältigung der Erfahrung von Vergänglichkeit für Studierenden eine persönliche spirituelle Herausforderung dar. Diskussion Die Berücksichtigung unbewusster Gefühle und Gedanken im Anschluss an den Präparierkurs kann Lehrende im Medizinstudium inspirieren.

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Slicing through Thin Layers of Humanity: Narratives of the Abject

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

Identity construction in medical student stories about experiences of disgust in early nursing home placements: a dialogical narrative analysis

Identity construction in medical student stories about experiences of disgust in early nursing home placements: a dialogical narrative analysis

Anticipatory Feelings About Dissection: An Exercise for the First Day of a Gross Anatomy Course

„In dem Moment habe ich mich sehr erschreckt …“ Was Medizin-Studierende nach dem anatomischen Präparierkurs ihren Körperspendern mitteilen wollen

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