HUMAN ANATOMY - A FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION ABOUT DEATH AND DYING IN MEDICINE

In most medical schools, little curricular time is devoted to the art of medicine, and this is particularly evident with respect to death ed ucation. We make a case for including education on death and dying in medical schools, specifically its early introduction in the anatomy co urse. Studies indicate that whereas dissection of cadavers is an excit ing discovery for most students, for many it is traumatic and if not a ddressed, students may use depersonalization and denial as their appro ach to suffering. The dissecting experiences in two different medical schools are described. The University of Massachusetts program develop ed in a traditional curriculum and explores humanistic issues with lec tures and group discussions. Parallels are drawn between dissection an d patient care, and coping styles are discussed openly. In the problem -based curriculum at Dalhousie Medical School, death and grief are dis cussed in the first week of medical school, and students are given inf ormation about the body donor program and support systems for students . This program is part of a longitudinal curriculum on death and dying . In both schools, students tour the dissecting rooms before the cours e begins and organize memorial events for body donors at the end of th e academic year. These examples illustrate how death education can beg in early in the medical curriculum and contribute to the development o f practitioners who are sensitive to broader issues of human mortality . (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.