Honoring donors: medical students' reflections on cadaveric dissection

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy Education
• Professional Identity Formation

Background:

• Cadaveric dissection is crucial for anatomy and professional attitude development.
• Prior research focused on initial negative emotions, neglecting pre-dissection reflective thinking.
• This study explores premedical students' perceptions before cadaveric dissection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze premedical students' perceptions and attitudes before cadaveric dissection.
• To understand students' reflective thinking and emotional responses prior to dissection practice.
• To inform educational strategies for professional identity development.

Main Methods:

• Text network analysis of 136 premedical students' reflective essays from 2022.
• Keyword preprocessing to identify significant themes.
• Centrality analysis and topic modeling to analyze perceptions and attitudes.

Main Results:

• Centrality analysis highlighted "cadaveric dissection," "donation," and "gratitude" as key themes.
• Topic modeling revealed "gratitude and respect for donors" and "growth and responsibility of doctors."
• Students demonstrated deep appreciation for donors, fostering learning motivation.

Conclusions:

• Premedical students exhibit significant gratitude and respect for donors before dissection.
• Reflective writing analysis is effective for understanding initial attitudes toward cadaveric dissection.
• Findings can guide educational strategies to support students' professional identity formation.