Perception of Ghanaian Medical Students of Cadaveric Dissection in a Problem-Based Learning Curriculum

There is a drastic shift in medical curriculum from the traditional medical curriculum where various basic science disciplines are taught separately in the preclinical years to integrated problem-based learning (PBL) in many medical schools across the world. In the integrated PBL, the time for classical anatomy dissection is significantly reduced. There are varying views across the world about the perception of medical students to cadaveric dissection. There is however no research on student's perception of cadaveric dissection in Ghana. The present study was to assess Ghanaian medical student's perception of cadaveric dissection under the PBL curriculum and to assess which educational tool students rely on to study anatomy. An anonymous self-administered, Likert-style questionnaire consisting of 24 questions was administered to 132 second- and third-year students after they had completed the dissection schedules for the musculoskeletal system. Participation was voluntary. In all, 89.5% of the students indicated that they had attended all the dissection sessions. The students generally agreed that dissection deepens their understanding of anatomy (87.9%), provides better understanding of clinical skill examination (66.7%), enhances their respect towards the human body (66.6%), provides better understanding of the effect of trauma (69.7%), and makes learning interesting (90.9). However, 57.5% of them agreed or strongly agreed that dissection was stressful. Majority of the students also disagreed that dissection should be eliminated from the curriculum (100%). This study has shown a strong positive perception towards the use of cadaveric dissections in teaching and learning anatomy regardless of the fact that SMHS/UDS uses the integrated PBL curriculum.