Nnodim J O
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Benin, Nigeria.
Clin Anat. 1996;9(3):175-82. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2353(1996)9:3<175::AID-CA9>3.0.CO;2-F.
The objective of the present study was to determine the reactions of preclinical medical students to dissection; cognate issues. A questionnaire was administered to a class of 148 students; the stimulus items inquired about the frequency of mental and physical symptoms, causes of stress, degree of upset occasioned by dissection, previous encounters with death, mental preparedness at the commencement of the course, reactions to dissecting room activities, coping strategies, and the desirability of a course on death and dying. Nearly a quarter of the sample reported an increase in the frequency of mental and physical symptoms. A third of the students identified the dissecting room as a "very important" stressor. Only for female respondents were "dissecting room" and "great difficulty of work" significantly associated as causes of stress. Over three-quarters of the students were upset at the beginning of dissection and about a third remained disturbed after 101.5 hours. Sixty students had seen a dead body previously and 30 students had been bereaved within the 2 years preceding the study. However, neither prior exposure to a dead body nor bereavement was a safeguard against persistent upset by dissection. The initial reactions were mostly negative, but neutral and positive attitudes later supervened. The coping strategies cited did not suggest any significant distortion attributable to the unseemly origins of the cadavers. A compulsory formal course on death and dying during both preclinical and clinical stages was considered desirable by the majority of respondents, more for personal and clinical reasons than for dissection-related ones.
本研究的目的是确定临床前医学生对解剖及相关问题的反应。对一个由148名学生组成的班级进行了问卷调查；刺激项目询问了心理和身体症状的频率、压力来源、解剖引起的苦恼程度、以前与死亡的接触、课程开始时的心理准备、对解剖室活动的反应、应对策略以及开设死亡与临终课程的必要性。近四分之一的样本报告心理和身体症状的频率增加。三分之一的学生认为解剖室是“非常重要”的压力源。只有女性受访者认为“解剖室”和“工作难度大”是显著相关的压力来源。超过四分之三的学生在解剖开始时感到苦恼，约三分之一的学生在101.5小时后仍感到困扰。60名学生以前见过尸体，30名学生在研究前两年内经历过丧亲之痛。然而，无论是之前接触过尸体还是经历过丧亲之痛，都不能防止因解剖而持续感到苦恼。最初的反应大多是负面的，但后来中性和积极的态度占了上风。所提到的应对策略并未表明由于尸体来源不当而产生任何重大扭曲。大多数受访者认为，在临床前和临床阶段都应开设关于死亡与临终的必修正式课程，更多是出于个人和临床原因，而非与解剖相关的原因。
