Videos have a role in postgraduate necropsy education

This is the first study to investigate the usefulness of structured, scripted videos as an adjunct to the mortuary based training of histopathology trainees in necropsy techniques.

Four structured and scripted videos describing aspects of necropsy health and safety, evisceration, general dissection techniques, specialist dissection techniques, and reconstruction were shown to histopathology trainees attending the 2001 University of Sheffield short course on the autopsy. Delegates who agreed to participate in the study were asked to complete a short questionnaire seeking Likert-type and free text responses concerning the usefulness of the videos in postgraduate necropsy training. Free text responses were analysed using a themed content analysis.

All 38 delegates who viewed the videos agreed to participate in the study. Of these, 35 found the videos enjoyable and 34 found them interesting. Thirty one felt the videos enhanced their learning experience. Advantages of the videos included the ability to learn about specialist techniques rarely encountered in the mortuary, the ability to teach large numbers of students at once, allowing students to learn at their own pace, and as a tool for revision. Repetition between the videos, a lack of interactivity, and a lack of sufficient detail on general necropsy techniques were felt by participants to be the principal disadvantages of this teaching tool.

Videos are an acceptable teaching tool for students. They have a valuable role to play as an adjunct to dissection in teaching junior histopathology trainees about specialist necropsy dissection techniques.