39 - Measuring the Effects of Different Types of Body Donor Presentation on Medical Students’ Empathy and Inclusion During Dissection

Poster Board Number: 39
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Odd poster #s – first hour
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Abstract Body : The purpose of this study is to understand how the presentation and diversity of body donors can impact student empathy during dissection. Personal traits and identifiable information about the donors can help students think about their first patient through a humanistic lens. We hypothesize that students can feel more empathy for their donors in approaching dissection if they can identify emotionally and physically to them.

We assessed 41 1st-year medical students’ physiological and behavioral responses to different body donor presentations during dissection. 21 participants were randomly assigned to the control group composed of shaven White, Caucasian body donors deprived of individual characteristics. The remaining 20 participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group composed of unshaven body donors of various self-reported ethnic backgrounds for whom all possible personal information was provided. Skin conductance and heart rate were collected for each participant via wearable biosensors during dissection. Following the dissections, participants were asked to fill out 3 surveys: the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale, Affective Slider (AS), and Santa Clara Compassion Scale (SCCS).

Of the three surveys, there was a significant difference in the IOS responses between the experimental (4.10±0.25) and control (3.28±0.29) groups (p=0.042; p< 0.05) Additionally, when comparing the responses according to self-reported participant ethnic background, there was a significant difference in responses between White (4.18±0.25) and Ethnic (3.33±0.30) participants (p=0.037;p< 0.05). There were no significant differences in responses for the AS or SCCS between the experimental and control groups or ethnic and white participants.

The initial findings suggest that students relate better with body donors from diverse background who are unshaven and had all possible personal information released. Additionally, this study provides anatomy educators information on how body donor presentation can impact a student’s empathy and clinical detachment during cadaveric dissection.