A Commemoration to Silent Anatomy Teachers: Content Analysis of Gratitude Expressions by Diverse Medical Students

Objectives: Body donors play a crucial role in anatomy education by providing students and researchers with the opportunity to study and understand the human body in a hands-on manner. It is crucial to pay gratitude to donors with the inclusion of diverse medical students. The aim of this study was to conduct a commemoration and a content analysis of gratitude expressions by diverse medical students.
Methods: A project commemorating body donors was conducted at the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. The medical students who completed the dissections were guided to reflect on the implications of working with cadavers through notes, poems or drawings in their convenient language. Content analysis with an inductive coding method was conducted following the receipt of those submissions.
Results: The response rate was 90.13% (n=137). Among the participants, 74.45% (n=102) identified and expressed gratitude for the donor for being a silent teacher. Additionally, there was acknowledgement of human dignity in 63.5%(n=87) and recognizing the selflessness and generosity of the donor in 62.77%(n=86). Analysis also revealed learning humanistic skills such as reverence, responsibility towards patients, and compassion by 25.55% (n=35) of the medical students through working with cadavers.
Conclusion: The project permitted individual involvement of medical students from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds in commemoration of body donors. The high response rate and positive views expressed by participants demonstrate the significant impact of cadavers in anatomy education and fostering humanistic skills among medical students.