A thematic analysis of students' discussions on death and body donation in international online focus groups

Personalization above anonymization? A role for considering the humanity and spirituality of the dead in anatomical education

Clinical anatomy education is meant to prepare students for caring for the living, often by working with the dead. By their nature many clinical anatomy education programs privilege topographical form  over the donor's humanity. This inbalance between the living and the dead generates tensions between the tangible and the spiritual insofar as semblances of the humanity of donors endure even in depictions and derivatives. This article argues that considering the relevance of spirituality, and what endures of a donor's humanity after death, would enhance contemporary anatomy education and the ethical treatment of human body donors (and derivatives). In developing this argument, we (the authors) address the historical connection between spirituality and anatomy, including the anatomical locations of the soul. This serves as a basis for examining the role of the mimetic-or imitative-potential of deceased human donors as representations of the living. We deliberate on the ways in which the depersonalization and anonymization of those donating challenge the mimetic purpose of human body donors and the extent to which such practices are misaligned with the health care shift  from a biomedical to a biopsychosocial model. Weighing up the risks and opportunities of anonymization versus personalization of human body donors, we propose curricula that could serve to enhance the personalization of human donors to support students learning topographical form. In doing so, we argue that the personalization of human donors and depictions could prevent the ill effects of digital representations going "viral," and enhance opportunities for donors to help the general public learn more about the human form.

A comparison of student perspectives on body donation across healthcare professional programs: From prosection- to dissection-based curricula

Donor-centered education offers students the opportunity to not only acquire visual and tactile experiences for applying anatomical knowledge but also a chance for students to reflect upon fundamental humanistic principles. The exploration of differences in students' viewpoints on body donation and the utilization of body donors in their education remains unexplored across various healthcare professional programs, which has an impact on student learning and experience. This study aimed to qualitatively examine the similarities and differences in student perspectives regarding body donation across three healthcare professional programs. One-page reflections from nursing (n = 37), physical and occupational therapy (n = 49), and medical students (n = 66) regarding their experiences in the anatomy laboratory at McGill University were collected and analyzed using a deductive approach based on themes and sub-themes outlined by Stephens et al. in 2019. Despite differences in their curricula, there were few discrepancies across the programs' reflections suggesting that donor-based learning had similar effects on each user group. Most students across the healthcare professional programs mentioned that their positive laboratory experiences motivated them to donate their bodies, extending the privilege they had to future generations. Nursing students did not reflect upon the notion that working with body donors provided unique learning experiences in the anatomy laboratory. Likewise, physical and occupational therapy (PT/OT) students did not address the importance of maintaining the privacy of body donors by covering certain body parts during lab. These findings show that prosection- and dissection-based exercises encourage reflective practices associated with these of medical ethics, highlighting an important advantage to including donor-based learning in anatomical education.