Medicine and Dentistry are the only careers performing human body dissection and teaching-learning of Anatomy with cadaveric material in our university. Physicians and dentists’ knowledge and opinion on the topic are particularly important because they could be considered as potential procurators due to their contact and influence on patient’s decisions. We surveyed 528 professionals (429 physicians and 99 dentists) collecting some demographic data and questions about organ and whole body donation. Results showed that 94% should donate organs for transplantation, 66% knew about body donation, 66% was interested in further information and 48% should be willing to donate the own body for teaching and research. Main reasons to donate were to support teaching and research, contribute to the science and to be useful. In conclusion, we found that professionals had a very positive attitude in relation to body donation, independently of gender, age, religion, regional origin or specialities, but with significant differences between physicians and dentists. Compared with students, they had better attitude which could be related to a better information and experience. In comparison with the few published articles we found, our results were similar to Ireland and very different to India, improving our expectances about the success of developing a donation program. Organ and body donation are always an act of altruism and social solidarity.

En Argentina, la mayoría de las universidades tienen deficiencia de material cadavérico. Medicina y Odontología son las carreras que utilizan cuerpos en forma regular para la docencia-aprendizaje de la Anatomía. Este hecho ha motivado una consideración particular dentro de nuestro estudio para establecer la actitud de diferentes grupos de población respecto a la donación de cuerpos. Nuestro objetivo es evidenciar las diferencias que observamos entre los profesionales egresados de las dos carreras como participantes fundamentales para implementar un programa de donación. Estudio transversal cualitativo y relacional, basado en encuestas anónimas con respuestas de múltiples opciones y semi-estructuradas, receptadas al azar a médicos y odontólogos. El cuestionario incluyó datos demográficos y otros vinculados a la importancia de los cuerpos para docencia e investigación y la voluntad de donar. Hubo diferencias en la voluntad de donar entre los encuestados de ambas profesiones. No se evidenciaron diferencias entre los dos grupos por sexo, origen geográfico, religión o práctica quirúrgica en su profesión. Si se evidenciaron diferencias significativas dependiendo de la especialidad, la importancia que se le asigna al cadáver para la docencia-aprendizaje de la Anatomía, la actitud hacia la donación de órganos para trasplante y el conocimiento previo sobre la posibilidad de donar el cuerpo. Los médicos muestran mayor tendencia a donar independientemente de la especialidad, porque consideran que los cuerpos son fundamentales para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de la Anatomía y tienen mayor conocimiento sobre donación; lo que influye tanto en la donación de órganos como del cuerpo completo.

Corpses are an irreplaceable resource for teaching and research in Anatomy. Voluntary donation is the source of cadavers, but in the  National University of Cordoba we are struggling with a critical shortage due to the lack of an organized donation program. The objective of this study was to know the attitude of general population of the city of Cordoba about this subject and the profile of potential donors to develop a program. A survey was randomly distributed among older than 18 years. The questionnaire included demographic, educational, laboral and religious aspects and specific ones related to the willingness to donate the own body and reasons to do it, knowledge about this possibility, interest in further information. Two thousand and thirty responses were obtained from a population so diverse that we considered it as representative of the city. Among the respondents, 80% should be willing to donate organs for transplantation and 41% the whole body; with 45% who said to know about donation and 54% interested in more information. Main motives to donate were related to support teaching, research and science; while the main reason not to donate was associated with insuficient information. The profile of potential donors was obtained from the analysis of all the variables and we compared with other studies demonstrating that not only cultural and religious aspects may determine the willingness to donate but also the level of public information and facilities to register as donors.

Between 2018 and 2020 we carried out a research project endorsed by the University Secretary of Science and Technology, based on different group’s surveys, to obtain supporting data for the creation of the Program for Body Procurement and Donation. As the pandemic COVID-19 stopped all face-to-face educational activities and seriously affected the reception of bodies for teaching and research, in 2021 we reiterated a survey on some similar data, with the aim of evaluating the impact the pandemic had had on the opinion of two of these groups (medical students). This survey included 1406 students from all years of the career, who were asked about their knowledge on body donation and the Program, their interest in collaborating with it, their willingness to donate their own body and reasons for doing or not doing so. Results showed a similar composition of the samples in relation to age, gender, geographic origin, religion and differences in each year of the career (compared with those of 2018). Specific aspects also evidenced similarities about knowledge of the possibility of donating (p=0.0812) and interest in collaborating with the Program (p=0.2460), but reached 72% (p=<0.0001) in willingness to donate their own body. We also analyzed the reasons to donate and not donate in the context of the pandemic and concluded that it positively influenced these results; directly, due to the increased appreciation of scientific research and indirectly, because the pandemic facilitated communications and access to scientific information online.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected all activities. In the university environment, the areas where practical activity is essential were very difficult to compensate for the training deficit. Within the basic subjects of Health Sciences, Anatomy students suffered from the impossibility of accessing cadaveric material, but also many other resources. The objective of this study was to assess the opinion of the students regarding the changes imposed by the pandemic and their attitude towards donating their own bodies. Material and Method: A voluntary survey was carried out to the students who attended in 2020 and 2021, with different levels of restrictions and information regarding donation. The questions referred to demographic data, importance that is assigned to the bodies for the learning of Anatomy, if they were student assistants in that period, if the pandemic affected their training, if they know that the body can be donated and that the Faculty has a program, if they would like to obtain more information, collaborate and / or donate their own body. The results showed great similarity, except that Group 2 had less knowledge of the possibility of donating and the existence of a program, without affecting the will to donate. Also the reasons for not donating were a bit more ambiguous in that group. In addition, some results were compared with similar groups from 2018, showing that the study groups valued cadaveric material less but had a more positive attitude towards donation.