Department of Biomedical Sciences, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomical Science, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi.
Anat Sci Educ. 2021 Nov;14(6):764-773. doi: 10.1002/ase.2092. Epub 2021 May 21.
Cadaveric dissection offers an important opportunity for students to develop their ideas about death and dying. However, it remains largely unknown how this experience impacts medical students' fear of death. The current study aimed to address this gap by describing how fear of death changed during a medical gross anatomy dissection course and how fear of death was associated with examination performance. Fear of death was surveyed at the beginning of the course and at each of the four block examinations using three of the eight subscales from the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale: Fear of the Dead, Fear of Being Destroyed, and Fear for the Body After Death. One hundred forty-three of 165 medical students (86.7%) completed the initial survey. Repeated measures ANOVA showed no significant changes in Fear of the Dead (F (4, 108) = 1.45, P = 0.222) or Fear for the Body After Death (F (4, 108) = 1.83, P = 0.129). There was a significant increase in students' Fear of Being Destroyed (F (4, 108) = 6.86, P < 0.0005) after beginning dissection. This increase was primarily related to students' decreased willingness to donate their body. Concerning performance, there was one significant correlation between Fear for the Body After Death and the laboratory examination score at examination 1. Students with higher fears may be able to structure their experience in a way that does not negatively impact their performance, but educators should still seek ways to support these students and encourage body donation.
尸体解剖为学生提供了一个重要的机会，让他们深入了解死亡和濒死的概念。然而，目前尚不清楚这种经历如何影响医学生对死亡的恐惧。本研究旨在通过描述医学生在医学大体解剖课程中对死亡的恐惧是如何变化的，以及对死亡的恐惧如何与考试成绩相关联，来填补这一空白。在课程开始时以及在四个模块考试中的每一次考试时，使用多维死亡恐惧量表的八个分量表中的三个来测量对死亡的恐惧：对死者的恐惧、对被毁灭的恐惧和对死后身体的恐惧。在 165 名医学生中，有 143 名（86.7%）完成了初始调查。重复测量方差分析显示，对死者的恐惧（F（4,108）=1.45，P=0.222）或对死后身体的恐惧（F（4,108）=1.29，P=0.222）没有显著变化。学生对被毁灭的恐惧显著增加（F（4,108）=6.86，P<0.0005），这主要与学生不愿意捐献自己的身体有关。在成绩方面，只有在对死后身体的恐惧和第一次实验室考试成绩之间存在显著的相关性。那些恐惧程度较高的学生可能能够以一种不会对他们的成绩产生负面影响的方式来组织他们的学习，但教育者仍应寻找方法来支持这些学生，并鼓励他们捐献自己的身体。
