Impact of the use of cadaver on student’s ability to pass anatomy examination

Anatomy education in most African countries is limited by an insufficient number of cadavers for students to undertake dissection. This already significant shortage is exacerbated by an increasing number of medical schools and students. Virtual dissections are impractical in alleviating such a shortfall in African anatomy education, and further cadaver supply is challenged by unethical and dubious sources. This study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of whole body and organ donation by Nigerian anatomists with the aim of finding solutions to the problems associated with the availability of cadavers in Nigerian medical schools. Out of 46 anatomists that participated in the survey, only 23.9% would consider donating their whole bodies and 60.9% their organs. More than 95% of respondents did not believe that body bequests could become the sole source of cadavers for anatomic dissection in Nigeria. Age and gender were not statistically significant in the choice of being a body or organ donor. The unacceptability to one's family members regarding body donation was the major reason for respondents' unwillingness to make a whole body donation. None of the 14 medical schools sampled in this study have yet instituted a body registration and donation program. The anatomists showed a high level of knowledge and awareness of body bequest programs, which were not reflected by their attitudes and practice. The authors recommend proactive measures aimed at improving the perception and attitudes of Nigerian anatomists.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissecting the dissectors: Knowledge, attitude, and practice of body bequests by Nigerian anatomists

Anyanwu

Obikili

2012

“…Nigerian anatomists must not depend solely on face‐to‐face dissections to teach anatomy, the current practice in most Nigerian schools, to reduce the health risk associated with body handling. Though the study by Anyanwu and Ugochukwu (2010) revealed that students performed better when taught with cadavers, the lessons from Covid‐19 should spur the gradual integration of technology‐based virtual learning platforms for anatomy in Nigeria and Africa at large. This will not only suffice in pandemics like Covid‐19 but also for the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Covid‐19: Emerging Considerations for Body Sourcing and Handling. A Perspective View from Nigeria

Okafor

Chia

2021

The current Coronavirus disease (Covid‐19) pandemic has spread to about 220 countries of the world and has resulted in a significant number of deaths globally. Infections are still on the rise, and the impact on the global death rate could be devastating. There are fears over the likely impact of a large number of deaths on body sourcing and handling of cadavers for teaching and research. Historically, epidemics come with several challenges and have often led to some level of negligence of ethical practices and health and safety regulations associated with body sourcing and handling. The authors highlighted some emerging problems in this article, focusing on Africa and Nigeria in particular. These problems include a higher risk of coronavirus exposure for body handlers, shortage of cadavers for teaching and learning, a lack of standard regulations leading to unethical body sourcing and handling, and a lack of monitoring and collaboration needed for a well‐coordinated Covid‐19 pandemic response strategy. If these issues are ignored, the previous gains made in anatomical ethical practices may be destroyed. Some useful recommendations for policymaking geared toward prevention or curtailing these emerging issues have been instilled in this article.

“…Kang et al () showed that giving students specific tasks to perform increases students’ interest in learning in laboratory. Finally, literature is largely equivocal regarding any comparative advantages between using cadaver prosections versus dissections when teaching anatomy (Topp, ; Winkelmann, ; Mitchell and Battey, ; Anyanwu and Ugochukwu, ). Some studies even suggest that experiences with human cadavers are not necessary (McLachlan et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cadaveric Dissection in Relation to Problem‐Based Learning Case Sequencing: A Report of Medical Student Musculoskeletal Examination Performances and Self‐Confidence

Thompson

Gendreau

Strickling

et al. 2019

Mercer University School of Medicine utilizes a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum for educating medical students in the basic clinical sciences. In 2014, an adjustment was piloted that enabled PBL cases to align with their corresponding cadaver dissection that reviewed the content of anatomy contained in the PBL cases. Faculty had the option of giving PBL cases in sequence with the cadaveric dissection schedule (sequential group) or maintaining PBL cases out of sequence with dissections (traditional group). During this adjustment, students' academic performances were compared. Students' perception of their own preparedness for cadaveric dissection, their perceived utility of the cadaver dissections, and free-response comments were solicited via an online survey. There were no statistically significant differences when comparing student mean examination score values between the sequential and traditional groups on both multidisciplinary examinations (79.39 ± 7.63 vs. 79.88 ± 7.31, P = 0.738) and gross anatomy questions alone (78.15 ± 10.31 vs. 79.98 ± 9.31, P = 0.314). A statistically significant difference was found between the sequential group's and traditional group's (63% vs. 29%; P = 0.005) selfperceived preparedness for cadaveric dissections in the 2017 class. Analysis of free-response comments found that students in the traditional group believed their performance in PBL group, participation in PBL group and examination performance was adversely affected when compared to students with the sequential schedule. This study provides evidence that cadaveric dissections scheduled in sequence with PBL cases can lead to increased student self-confidence with learning anatomy but may not lead to improved examination scores.Anat Sci Educ 12: 619-626.