Making Dissection a More Positive Experience: A Student Centered

Making Dissection a More Positive Experience:
A Student Centered Approach
Kathy A. Starr
Physical Therapy Department
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
Cadaver dissections are the cornerstone of the anatomy curriculum in the physical therapy program at Western Carolina University. New students who have never worked
with cadavers may experience great stress or even emotional trauma when they first begin dissecting. To reduce anxiety students are carefully prepared for their first
encounter with cadavers. Steps in preparation create opportunities for students to reflect on and discuss these anxieties. Using cadavers can also provide opportunities for
students to develop a respect for the human body. In our anatomy lab this respect is reflected in how the students identify with the cadavers they are dissecting and
culminates with a memorial program to honor the body donors. This poster presentation provides the ways in which students are prepared for their first cadaver dissections
and how they are encouraged to respect the human body throughout the anatomy course.
Reducing Anxiety Before the Initial Dissection
1 Helping Students Get to Know Each Other
Physical therapy students enter the program as a cohort taking
classes together throughout the two-year curriculum. During fall
orientation students are introduced to the faculty and to each
other. So that they can quickly get to know each other, they are
asked to write and share a biographical sketch. They are then
given three weeks to choose dissecting partners before they
begin dissecting.
Students meet each
other during
orientation.
3 Using a Personal Letter to Discuss the Issue of
Dissection
Before beginning dissection students read a letter written by a first
year medical student about his experiences with cadavers. The letter
entitled “The Past Life of My Cadaver” was obtained from the
American Medical Student Association Web Site at
www.amsa.org/dd/cadav.crm (retrieved July 12, 2001).
During the next class session students discuss the letter and any any
other issues they may have about working with cadavers. The
following is an excerpt from the letter:
The Past Life of My Cadaver
By Ranit Mishori, Georgetown University School of Medicine
Obtained from www.amsa.org/dd/cadav.crm
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, December 7, 1999; Page Z11
It's a reasonable enough question. What amazed me was how often
people asked it. "What," they would ask, "what is it like to do that to a
dead body?"
It took me some time to sort out how I really did feel during those first
weeks of anatomy class as I explored--by scalpel, by wrench and by saw-a human body, "my" specimen, "my" cadaver.
Every year the Georgetown University Medical Center invites the family
members of those whose bodies have been dissected to a memorial
service. It was not until I attended this funeral of sorts that I could answer
the "what is it like" question satisfactorily for myself.
There I was, perhaps the only Jew in that Catholic chapel, surrounded by
people making the sign of the cross, kneeling, singing hymns. I had come
to pay my respects to a courageous woman. A woman who until recently
had filled my thoughts almost every waking moment. My cadaver.
2
Introducing Students to the
Anatomy Lab
During the first anatomy class the students are given a
tour of the anatomy suite to familiarize them with the
surroundings. While students are in the lab for the
initial visit, the metal covers on the dissecting tables
remain closed. Thus, students see the lab but do not yet
see the cadavers.
Touring the
Anatomy lab
before beginning
dissection.
4
Students Talk About Their
Experiences in the Lab
We produced a video in which we interviewed six first-year
physical therapy students one month after they began
dissection. They were asked to describe their expectations
prior to entering the lab and whether those expectations
were met once they began dissecting. They also provided
advise for incoming students about dealing with the
anxieties of working with cadavers. We plan to show the
video to new students next fall as part of their orientation.
Respect for the Body Donors
Developing the Proper Attitude
2 Appropriate Draping and Care of the Body
Students are assigned to one cadaver for the entire twosemester course. To remind students that the cadavers were
once real people, they are given the body donor’s first name,
age, and a brief statement on the cause of death. Lab
policies prohibit loud music, profanity, or disrespectful
behavior while dissecting.
Respect for the body donors is reflected in how the cadavers
are handled. We produced a video in which the anatomy
instructor demonstrates the proper handling of cadavers,
dissection techniques and the necessary steps to maintain
tissue integrity. Out of respect for the body donors, the
cadavers are draped so that the only area exposed is the area
being dissected. Since we do not do facial dissections, faces
remain covered throughout the course.
1
3 Discussing the Cadaver Experience with
Nursing Students
The anatomy
instructor
demonstrates the
proper way to cover
the body when
dissection is
complete.
At various times throughout the fall semester of 2002 senior
nursing students enrolled in a course on death and dying came
into the cadaver lab to view the dissections and to talk with
physical therapy students about working with a human body.
Students from both disciplines had an opportunity to discuss
psychosocial and spiritual aspects of the experience. Both
nursing and physical therapy students found this to be a
rewarding experience.
4
Memorializing the Body Donors
In the spring of the second semester each dissection group develops a
presentation to honor their body donor. Students make their presentations
during a memorial program held in a park adjacent to the classroom building.
Faculty, students, and administrators attend the ceremony. Examples of past
student presentations include original poems, personal letters of gratitude, a
candle-lighting ceremony, release of balloons, tree planting, recitation of a
short story, and musical interpretations.
Let Us Not Forget
Let us not forget you are someone’s child
Someone’s friend
Someone’s first love
And you touched many lives in your time
No doubt you changed a life
with a simple word or smile
I’m sure you cried with deep despair at times,
And others were filled with exhilaration
All the toil, the worry, the pain are over now
And in the end, you gave an incredible gift
In addition to the gifts you had given so far
For you became the teacher
The classroom full of tremendous lessons
Waiting for us to uncover
And in this you touched yet a few more people
And in turn, with the knowledge
bestowed to us through you
We will touch a few more and on down the line
Until,
All are unified by a common thread
A touch that started with you
And will continue on forever.
Let us not forget.
Kristina Hooks, Physical Therapy Class of 2002
Students talk about their experiences with
cadaver dissection.
A Candle-lighting ceremony
Releasing balloons
as a Memorial
Memorial Poem Written by a Student