Unearthing the Capital Choice for Learning Anatomy- A Study on the Students Perspectives on Cadaveric Dissection in India

Abstract

Introduction What is the role of cadaveric dissection in the current scenario of anatomy education? We attempted to provide a valid answer to this controversial topic through our study. We analysed the students perspectives of different aspects of learning anatomy with their positive and negative experiences and got a better understanding of their opinions and their experience Methods In this cross-sectional study, a pretested and validated questionnaire was used to collect information from the students after approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Informed consent was obtained from every student prior to their participation in the study. Results Three hundred seventy seven students took part in this study and the response rate obtained was 63.5 %. The majority of the students endorsed that cadaveric dissection has helped them in learning the basic anatomy and has deepened their understanding of complexity of human body and has helped in better performance in clinical postings. The smell of formaldehyde and eye irritation was cited as the major reasons for finding dissection sessions challenging. Most of the students agreed that counselling before dissection sessions will help to alleviate the emotional reactions to cadavers. Conclusion The students unanimously agreed that cadaveric dissection sessions are the best way to learn basic anatomy complemented with newer teaching tools like prosections and computer based approaches. However, the problems encountered by the students like smell and irritation of formaldehyde need to be addressed with usage of alternative techniques.