What motivates surgeons to teach dissection anatomy to medical students and surgical trainees?

Abstract

IntroductionAlthough a fading tradition in some institutions, having clinicians teach anatomy by whole-body dissection provides a clinical context to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, increasing their depth of learning. The reasons for a clinician’s motivation to teach may be articulated in accordance with self-determination theory (SDT). SDT proposes that for individuals to be intrinsically motivated, three key elements are needed: 1) autonomy, 2) competence, and 3) relatedness.Materials and methodsData were collected through semistructured interviews with eight surgeons who were supervisors/facilitators in the anatomy by whole-body dissection course for undergraduate students in the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery program and postgraduate students in the Master of Surgery program at the University of Sydney. Qualitative analysis methods were used to code and categorize data into themes.ResultsOur study used SDT as a conceptual framework to explore surgeons’ motivation to supervise students in the anatomy by whole-body dissection courses. Elements that facilitated their desire to teach included satisfaction derived from teaching, a sense of achievement in providing students with a clinical context, a strong sense of community within the dissection courses, and a sense of duty to the medical/surgical profession and to patient welfare.ConclusionThe surgeons’ motivation for teaching was largely related to their desire to contribute to the training of the next generation of doctors and surgeons, and ultimately to future patient welfare.

Experience from an optional dissection course in a clinically‐orientated concept to complement system‐based anatomy in a reformed curriculum

“…Concerned about inefficient anatomy knowledge and afraid of decreased safety of surgical practice and surgery as a career path, surgeons in Australia and New Zealand introduced anatomy education in postgraduate programs (Herle and Saxena, ; Campbell and Fox, ; Burgess and Ramsey‐Stewart, ; Burgess et al, ). Dissection is proposed to foster surgery as a career path, in particular when conducted in cooperation with surgeons (Kozar et al, ; Hammer et al, ).…”

“…Moreover, Orsbon et al () suggested that advanced anatomy training should prepare students for the practical needs of their specialty residency programs rather than follow a generalized format for all clinical‐year students. Another approach is integrating surgical exposures into anatomy courses with collaborative teaching of anatomists and clinical teachers (Böckers et al, ; Burgess and Ramsey‐Stewart, ; Hammer et al, ). In the present study, anatomical dissection was only occasionally combined with surgical exposures, but systematically adding surgical or endoscopic approaches by clinical specialists to the overview of anatomical topography enriches anatomy teaching and contributes to students' motivation (Filgueira and Eppler, ).…”

Measuring medical students' motivation to learning anatomy by cadaveric dissection

“…Pedagogies like group teaching and problem‐based learning are viewed to support autonomy in medical education (Kusurkar and Croiset, ). Small group activities in the anatomy laboratory also promote collegiality and the sense of belonging (relatedness), which means students develop the sense that they are connected to others with the same goals (Burgess and Ramsey‐Stewart, ).…”

A novel phased‐concept course for the delivery of anatomy and orthopedics training in medical education

“…). To achieve this, basic science and clinical skills were woven together in multidisciplinary delivery of content (Ellis, ; Drake, ; Drake, ; Vasan et al, ; Burgess et al, ; Bradforth et al, ; Drake, ) with an emphasis on learning contextual anatomy (Böckers et al, ; Burgess and Ramsey‐Stewart, ), maintaining a strong emphasis on anatomy in early courses that remains consistent yet gradually declines towards the more advanced units.…”