TY - JOUR

T1 - The Anatomy Course During COVID-19

T2 - The Impact of Cadaver-Based Learning on the Initiation of Reflection on Death

AU - Wu, Anette

AU - Xiao, Que Yun

AU - McWatt, Sean

AU - Utomo, Rachel

AU - Talis, Austin

AU - Saraci, Kerstin

AU - Brassett, Cecilia

AU - Sagoo, Mandeep Gill

AU - Wingate, Richard

AU - Chien, Chung Liang

AU - Traxler, Hannes

AU - Waschke, Jens

AU - Vielmuth, Franziska

AU - Yamada, Yukari

AU - Sakurai, Takeshi

AU - Zeroual, Mina

AU - Olsen, Jorgen

AU - El-Batti, Salma

AU - Viranta-Kovanen, Suvi

AU - Keay, Kevin

AU - Stewart, William

AU - Kunzel, Carol

AU - Bernd, Paulette

AU - Kielstein, Heike

AU - Noël, Geoffroy P.J.C.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to International Association of Medical Science Educators.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person cadaveric dissection laboratories for teaching anatomy were omitted by many schools around the world. While knowledge domains can be easily evaluated via remote exams, non-traditional discipline-independent skills such as those encouraged through reflection on the topic of death are often overlooked. This study investigated how different anatomy course formats played a role in initiating students’ reflections on death during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: In fall 2020, 217 medical, dental, premedical, and health sciences students from 13 international universities discussed differences in their anatomy courses online. Formats of anatomy courses ranged from dissection-based, prosection-based, hybrid (combination of dissection and prosection) to no laboratory exposure at all. Students’ responses to the question, “Did/does your anatomy course initiate your thinking about life's passing?” were collected, and they self-reported themes that were present in their reflections on death using a multiple-choice prompt. Statistical analyses to detect differences between students with and without exposure to cadavers were performed using the chi-squared test. Results: When comparing students who had exposure to human anatomical specimens to those who had no exposure, the majority of students with exposure thought that the course did initiate thoughts about life’s passing, compared to students without exposure (P < 0.05). Reflection themes were consistent across groups. Discussion: These findings indicate that anatomy dissection courses are important for the initiation of students’ feelings about the topic of death. Omission of cadaveric dissection- or prosection-based laboratories will decrease the likelihood that students initiate reflection on this topic and gain important transferable skills.

AB - Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person cadaveric dissection laboratories for teaching anatomy were omitted by many schools around the world. While knowledge domains can be easily evaluated via remote exams, non-traditional discipline-independent skills such as those encouraged through reflection on the topic of death are often overlooked. This study investigated how different anatomy course formats played a role in initiating students’ reflections on death during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: In fall 2020, 217 medical, dental, premedical, and health sciences students from 13 international universities discussed differences in their anatomy courses online. Formats of anatomy courses ranged from dissection-based, prosection-based, hybrid (combination of dissection and prosection) to no laboratory exposure at all. Students’ responses to the question, “Did/does your anatomy course initiate your thinking about life's passing?” were collected, and they self-reported themes that were present in their reflections on death using a multiple-choice prompt. Statistical analyses to detect differences between students with and without exposure to cadavers were performed using the chi-squared test. Results: When comparing students who had exposure to human anatomical specimens to those who had no exposure, the majority of students with exposure thought that the course did initiate thoughts about life’s passing, compared to students without exposure (P < 0.05). Reflection themes were consistent across groups. Discussion: These findings indicate that anatomy dissection courses are important for the initiation of students’ feelings about the topic of death. Omission of cadaveric dissection- or prosection-based laboratories will decrease the likelihood that students initiate reflection on this topic and gain important transferable skills.

KW - Anatomy course

KW - COVID-19

KW - Dissection course

KW - Peer interactions

KW - Reflection on death

KW - Students

U2 - 10.1007/s40670-022-01609-7

DO - 10.1007/s40670-022-01609-7

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36097588

AN - SCOPUS:85137555265

VL - 32

SP - 1033

EP - 1044

JO - Medical Science Educator

JF - Medical Science Educator

SN - 2156-8650

ER -