The Anatomy Course During COVID-19: The Impact of Cadaver-Based Learning on the Initiation of Reflection on Death

Anette Wu¹, Que Yun Xiao¹, Sean McWatt², Rachel Utomo¹, Austin Talis¹, Kerstin Saraci³, Cecilia Brassett⁴, Mandeep Gill Sagoo⁵, Richard Wingate⁵, Chung-Liang Chien⁶, Hannes Traxler⁷, Jens Waschke³, Franziska Vielmuth³, Yukari Yamada⁸, Takeshi Sakurai^{1

8}, Mina Zeroual², Jorgen Olsen⁹, Salma El-Batti¹⁰, Suvi Viranta-Kovanen¹¹, Kevin Keay¹², William Stewart¹³, Carol Kunzel¹, Paulette Bernd¹, Heike Kielstein¹⁴, Geoffroy P J C Noël¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine and Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY USA.
² Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
³ Institute of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Vegetative Anatomy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
⁴ Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁵ Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Centre for Education, King's College London, London, UK.
⁶ Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁸ Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
⁹ Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁰ Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Paris, Paris, France.
¹¹ Department of Anatomy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
¹² Discipline of Anatomy and Histology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
¹³ Anatomy Section, Department of Surgery, Yale University, New Haven, CT USA.
¹⁴ Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical Faculty, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
¹⁵ Anatomy Division, Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA USA.

PMID: 36097588
PMCID: PMC9453724
DOI: 10.1007/s40670-022-01609-7

The Anatomy Course During COVID-19: The Impact of Cadaver-Based Learning on the Initiation of Reflection on Death

Anette Wu et al. Med Sci Educ. 2022.

. 2022 Sep 8;32(5):1033-1044.

doi: 10.1007/s40670-022-01609-7. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine and Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY USA.
² Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
³ Institute of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Vegetative Anatomy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
⁴ Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁵ Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Centre for Education, King's College London, London, UK.
⁶ Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁸ Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
⁹ Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁰ Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Paris, Paris, France.
¹¹ Department of Anatomy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
¹² Discipline of Anatomy and Histology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
¹³ Anatomy Section, Department of Surgery, Yale University, New Haven, CT USA.
¹⁴ Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical Faculty, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
¹⁵ Anatomy Division, Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA USA.

PMID: 36097588
PMCID: PMC9453724
DOI: 10.1007/s40670-022-01609-7

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Anatomy course; COVID-19; Dissection course; Peer interactions; Reflection on death; Students.

© The Author(s) under exclusive licence to International Association of Medical Science Educators 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Comparison of themes of students who had exposure to cadaveric specimens and students who did not have exposure

**Fig. 2**
Comparison of groups of students who dissected or had a hybrid course or no hands-on dissection course

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Harmon DJ, Attardi SM, Barremkala M, Bentley DC, Brown KM, Dennis JF, et al. An analysis of anatomy education before and during COVID-19: May-August 2020. Anat Sci Educ. 2021 doi: 10.1002/ase.2051. - DOI - PubMed
1. Pather N, Blyth P, Chapman JA, Dayal MR, Flack N, Fogg QA, et al. Forced disruption of anatomy education in Australia and New Zealand: an acute response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anat Sci Educ. 2020;13(3):284–300. doi: 10.1002/ase.1968. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Iwanaga J, Loukas M, Dumont AS, Tubbs RS. A review of anatomy education during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: revisiting traditional and modern methods to achieve future innovation. Clin Anat. 2021;34(1):108–114. doi: 10.1002/ca.23655. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Yoo H, Kim D, Lee YM, Rhyu IJ. Adaptations in anatomy education during COVID-19. J Korean Med Sci. 2021;36(1):e13. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e13. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Bond G, Franchi T. Resuming cadaver dissection during a pandemic. Med Educ Online. 2021;26(1):1842661. doi: 10.1080/10872981.2020.1842661. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
- Europe PubMed Central
- PubMed Central

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

The Anatomy Course During COVID-19: The Impact of Cadaver-Based Learning on the Initiation of Reflection on Death

Affiliations

The Anatomy Course During COVID-19: The Impact of Cadaver-Based Learning on the Initiation of Reflection on Death

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources