What do medical students learn from dissection?

Abstract

Dissection has long been the accepted method for teaching anatomy to medical students. More recently, some educators have suggested that easier, cheaper, alternative methods are just as effective. But what do the students think? This paper aimed to identify what undergraduate medical students learn, how they cope, and what effects participating in dissection has on them as individuals. A cohort of 267 second year medical students at Otago Medical School were invited to complete three online surveys; before their first dissection laboratory class, after their first musculoskeletal system dissection and following the last semester of studying anatomy. Open-ended questions showcasing the attitudes, beliefs, and opinions on what dissection had taught the medical students over years two and three were analyzed. A general inductive approach was used and common emergent themes were identified. In total, 194 students completed the second, and 108 students completed the third questionnaire. Students commonly conveyed dissection as an appropriate and valuable educational tool, useful for teaching and learning anatomical knowledge and relationships, appreciating the body in three-dimension, teamwork, and how to cope with death/dead bodies. The noted effects of personal growth while participating in dissection were highly varied, but in general, impacted positively on the majority of students. This study shows that at Otago Medical School the students also believe that dissection is not only a useful tool to learn anatomy but also that it fosters teamwork, assists professional development and helps them come to terms with death and dying. Anat Sci Educ 11: 325-335. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

Nursing Students’ Perceptions of a Silent Mentor Program in an Anatomy Course

“…Although anatomical education has been undergoing reform in the medical profession, researchers have advocated that cadaveric dissection is the core method of teaching medical students as a foundation for developing clinical skills (Ghosh, ). Through dissection, most medical students have indicated positive effects on their learning (Flack and Nicholson, ). Similar to other Western countries, Taiwan’s medical education reform was implemented in 2000 (Chou et al, ).…”

Anxiety among Medical Students when Faced with the Practice of Anatomical Dissection

“…In addition to being a useful tool to learn anatomy, it improves the students’ spatial reasoning skills and helps them relate structures to their images as they are usually represented. Dissection also promotes self‐reflection and integration of the cognitive and affective skills required for medical practice (Rizzolo and Stewart, ; Ahmed et al, ), and it is a useful tool to encourage teamwork, professional development and leadership among the students (Pawlina et al, ; Robbins et al, ; Talarico, ; Flack and Nicholson, ). Some have argued it constitutes the foundation of formal anatomy teaching (Rizzolo and Stewart, ; Lee et al, ; Somanath et al, ).…”

Cadaveric Dissection in Relation to Problem‐Based Learning Case Sequencing: A Report of Medical Student Musculoskeletal Examination Performances and Self‐Confidence

“…Students also generally support the idea of improving anatomy laboratory experiences. In a recently published survey by Flack and Nicholson (), it was found that medical students agree gross anatomy laboratory is a positive learning experience in preparing them for practicing medicine. This finding is also widely reinforced by other previous studies from the literature (Lempp, ; Azer and Eizenberg, ), as well as this report, as most students reported benefits from dissection laboratory (70% traditional; 72% sequential).…”

“…Manning et al () introduce the idea that cadaver dissections could be used to educate medical students on the suturing techniques required for their third‐year rotations. Anatomy laboratory also assists students in gaining a deeper understanding of human morbidity and mortality, and it allows the students to reflect on life and death (Aziz et al, ; Topp, ; Cho and Hwang, ; Flack and Nicholson, ). Additionally, it promotes professionalism, teamwork, and confidence in anatomical dissection (Escobar‐Poni and Poni, ; Spandorfer et al, ).…”