Perceptions on the attitudes and ethics of learners towards cadaveric dissection before and after the attitude, ethics and communication module

Abstract Background: Exposure to cadaver during the early stages of medical education induces some positive and negative feelings among medical students. However, evidence available from earlier studies shows that most negative feelings are temporary and do not overweigh the big advantage of superior quality learning of anatomy through cadaver dissection. To sensitise students on these aspects, falling line with the National Medical Commission introduced the concept of cadaver as first teacher; it was planned to conduct a sensitising session and study the changes in attitudes of the students. Methods: An interventional cross-sectional study was conducted on the first MBBS students admitted during the year 2023. A questionnaire including 16 questions, validated by a peer group of 20 members, was given for grading by the students using Likert scale before and after a sensitising session on cadaver as the first teacher through general lecture and self-directed learning sessions. The student responses before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the sessions were evaluated for changes in attitude and ethics towards cadaveric dissection. Results: One hundred and thirty-four of the 150 first year MBBS students participated in the study. The mean age of the students was 18 years, and 35% of them were male. After the sensitisation session, the majority of the students showed a positive change in their attitude and perception with regard to cadaver dissection. Conclusions: The present study shows that sensitising sessions for students during the early phase of learning anatomy helps to accept the concept of cadaver as the first teacher.