Orientation lesson in anatomy education

Dissection of a human body during an anatomy course raises questions about invasion of privacy, cadaver sources, dying and death for medical students. The technical orientation in any medical education process tends to motivate students towards a purely biological view of the human body. An orientation lesson was performed, including technical instructions, with particular emphasis on how to deal with emotions. Two hundred and forty-two second-year students were asked to complete a questionnaire and two State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) self-reports. One hundred and two students participated in an orientation lesson (group A) and 140 students did not (group B). Data were analyzed using SPSS. The t-test and chi-square test were used to evaluate differences between the groups. Group A students showed significantly better performance in both a verbal anatomy examination and multiple-choice test than group B students (p=0.001). There were no differences between group A and B students in the state and trait anxiety levels, willingness to donate their body or organs, belief in life after death, social activity or gender. The goal of including consideration of psychosocial factors in an anatomy course would allow students a thoughtful interpretation of their laboratory experience in the context of their professional development as physicians.