Presented By: Megha Mohanakrishnan, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Co-Authors: Jonathan Bowden, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Bruce Giffin, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Andrew Thompson, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Purpose
Medical school often includes human dissection as an instructional method for gross anatomy. Research has shown it is common for incoming students to have feelings of stress and anxiety when facing dissection. To help mitigate these feelings, we developed a program where incoming medical students submit a drawing and brief reflection that represents their emotions in anticipation of dissection. The purpose of this study was to investigate common themes in these reflections and determine whether various demographic and background data had an impact on these trends.

Methods
This study focused on dissection reflections from 2022-2023 and included a total of 343 responses. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. As a first step, ChatGPT was used to develop an initial list of potential themes. Authors MM and JB then conducted an interobserver error study that included an iterative process where the list of themes was refined. After reaching satisfactory interobserver results (94% total agreement) each author coded half of the dataset and results were compiled.

Results
A total of 14 themes were identified. The most commonly cited themes were learning opportunity (54%), gratitude and respect (52%), anticipation and excitement (41%), apprehension and nervousness (39%), and connection to donors (35%). Students who had never taken an anatomy course were almost twice as likely to include comments reflecting on life and death whereas students with anatomy experience more often discussed the learning opportunities associated with dissection. Students reporting as female were at least 1.5X more likely to include themes related to gratitude and respect, connection to donors, and empathy and compassion.

Conclusion
This study supports previous research documenting student apprehension to facing dissection but provides additional layers of information that can aid in better understanding and preparing students for the unique experience of human dissection laboratory.