Discourse perspectives on learning anatomy by whole‐body dissection

Abstract

The place and role of whole body dissection in medical education, and whether or not dissection is an efficient means of learning clinically relevant anatomy, is at the core of many debates in the literature. This study aimed to discursively evaluate what was being learned during the course of whole body dissection. Fourth year medical students on an intensive advanced clinical anatomy course completely dissected a cadaver following a standard dissecting manual, recording all anatomical variations and pathological findings, and reconstructing the ante‐mortem presentation of the deceased. The conversations of these students during the course of dissection were recorded, transcribed, coded and subjected to discourse analysis. There was a diachronic transition from narrative to academic discourse (argumentation, descriptive, expository), and evidence of an ontological trinity (cadaver‐disease‐person) in the discourse. Whole body dissection was found to be an efficient medium for the recall and consolidation of basic and clinical science knowledge; for contextualization of anatomical and pathological findings; for the expression of clinical reasoning skills; and for discussion of relevant professional and ethical issues.