The anatomy course during the time of COVID‐19 ‐ students’ initiation of reflections on life's passing in dissection and non‐dissection anatomy courses

Background During the COVID‐19 pandemic, in‐person cadaveric dissection to teach anatomy was often omitted. While knowledge‐based assessment can be evaluated via remote exams, soft skills (e.g., reflections on the topic of death) can often be overlooked. This study aims to quantitatively investigate how different anatomy course formats play a role in initiating students’ reflections on life's passing, during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Method In the fall semester of 2020, 216 medical, dental, premedical undergraduate, and health sciences students from 14 international universities discussed (in small groups) differences in their anatomy courses as part of an online exchange program. Formats of anatomy education delivery in the 14 universities ranged from dissection, hybrid dissection‐prosection, and prosection only, to no laboratory exposure during the pandemic. Students’ responses to the question, “Did/does your Anatomy course initiate your thinking on life's passing?” were collected utilizing a multiple‐choice question and a short essay. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi‐square analysis. Results 105 students dissected (group 1), 21 had a hybrid dissection‐prosection class (group 2), and 79 had no dissection (group 3). 11 students did not have an anatomy course. Within the 3 groups, 149 students had exposure to human anatomical specimens and 52 students did not. A majority of students in groups 1 and 2 reported that the anatomy course helped them to initiate reflections on the topic of death, compared to those in group 3 (75% and 71% respectively, versus 36%, p