Anatomy in medical education: Perceptions of undergraduate medical students

AimThe best method to teach anatomy is widely debated. A shift away from cadaveric dissection in UK medical schools towards newer approaches has taken place without adequate evaluation of their suitability. The impact of this on future anatomical and surgical competencies is unclear. We assessed student perceptions to different methods of anatomy teaching.MethodsAll 2nd year students at Leeds School of Medicine were invited to complete a matrix-grid questionnaire. Participants were asked to score six methods of anatomy teaching (dissection; prosection; lectures; models; PC software packages; living & radiological anatomy) using a 5-point Likert-type scale on the ability to achieve nine learning objectives. Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney analyses suitable for non-parametric data were used to evaluate differences in scores between teaching methods.Results170 students (71%) responded to the survey. Overall, dissection was the single highest scored method, followed by prosection. Newer approaches such as models, computer software packages and living & radiological anatomy scored comparatively worse. The most suitable method for achieving individual learning objectives was variable with dissection perceived as most suitable for four out of nine objectives.ConclusionsCadaveric dissection is a favourable approach for achieving important learning objectives in the field of anatomy. Further evaluation of teaching methods is required prior to changes being made in the curricula of UK medical schools.     

Attitudes of professional anatomists to curricular change

Throughout the world, recent developments in medical curricula have led to marked changes in the teaching of gross anatomy. This change has involved decreasing curricular student contact time and the use of new methods for anatomical teaching. Some "modern" anatomists have welcomed the arrival of these novel methods while other, more "traditional," anatomists have fought to maintain the use of cadaveric dissection. Consequently, controversy over teaching methods has developed to the point that "modernist" and "traditionalist" views within the community of professional anatomists seem to have diverged such that the importance of gross anatomy in the medical curriculum is disputed and that cadaveric dissection by students is no longer the preferred method of teaching. This study tests this hypothesis using Thurstone and Chave attitude analyses to assess attitudes to educational change and the importance of anatomy in medicine and a matrix questionnaire that required professional anatomists to relate course aims to different teaching methods. In total, 112 completed questionnaires were received from anatomists who are employed at higher education institutions that use various teaching methods and who span the academic hierarchy. The results suggest that over 90% of anatomists favor educational change and approximately 98% of professional anatomists believe that gross anatomy has an important role to play in clinical medicine. A clear majority of the anatomists (69%) favored the use of human cadaveric dissection over other teaching methods (this method seeming to achieve a range of different course aims/objectives) (P < 0.001; Kruskal-Wallis). Using Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests, the order-of-preference for teaching methods was found to be as follows: 1. Practical lessons using cadaveric dissection by students. 2. Practical lessons using prosection. 3. Tuition based upon living and radiological anatomy. 4. Electronic tuition using computer aided learning (CAL). 5. Didactic teaching alone (e.g. lectures/class room-based tuition). 6. Use of models. The preference for the use of human cadaveric dissection was evident in all groups of anatomists, whether "traditionalist" or "modernist" (P = 0.002, Chi-squared). These findings are therefore not consistent with our initial hypothesis.     

Provision of anatomical teaching in a new British medical school: getting the right mix

In response to a government report, which recommended a substantial increase in the number of medical students in the United Kingdom by 2005, several new medical schools have been set up throughout the country. One such school, the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), recently opened its doors to new students. BSMS offers a 5-year medical curriculum that uses an integrated systems-based approach to cultivate academic knowledge and clinical experience. Anatomy is one of the core elements of the program and, as such, features strongly within the modular curriculum. The challenge for the anatomy faculty has been to decide how best to integrate anatomy into the new curriculum and what teaching modalities should be used. A multidisciplinary approach has been taken using both traditional and contemporary teaching methods. Unlike most of the other new medical schools, BSMS uses cadaveric dissection as the cornerstone of its teaching, as the faculty believes that dissection still provides the most powerful technique for demonstrating anatomy as well as enhancing communication and teamwork skills. The dissection experience is handled using an understanding and professional way. However, to ensure that our students do not become detached from the process of patient-focused care, emphasis in the dissecting room environment is also placed on respect and compassion. To enhance conceptual understanding of structure and function and provide further clinical relevance, we are using imaging technology to demonstrate living anatomy. Unique to the BSMS curriculum is the teaching of the anatomy in the later years of the program. During specialist rotations, students will return to the dissecting room to study the anatomy relevant to that area. Such vertical integration ensures that core anatomical knowledge is gained at the most appropriate level relative to a student's clinical experience.     

Comparisons between the attitudes of medical and dental students toward the clinical importance of gross anatomy and physiology

Marked changes are occurring within both the medical and dental curricula and new ways of teaching the basic sciences have been devised and traditional methods (e.g., dissection for gross anatomy and of bench‐based animal preparations for physiology) are increasingly no longer the norm. Although there is much anecdotal evidence that students are not in favor of such changes, there is little evidence for this based on quantitative analyses of students' attitudes. Using Thurstone and Chave attitude analyses, we assessed the attitudes of first year medical and dental students at Cardiff University toward gross anatomy and physiology in terms of their perceived clinical importance. In addition, we investigated the appropriateness (“fitness for purpose”) of teaching methodologies used for anatomy and physiology. The hypotheses tested recognized the possibility that medical and dental students differed in their opinions, but that they had a preference to being taught gross anatomy through the use of dissection and had no preference for physiology teaching. It was found that both medical and dental students displayed positive attitudes toward the clinical relevance of gross anatomy and that they preferred to be taught by means of dissection. Although both medical and dental students displayed positives attitudes toward the clinical relevance of physiology, this was greater for the medical students. Both medical and dental students showed a preference for being taught physiology through didactic teaching in small groups but the medical students also appreciated being taught by means of practicals. Overall, this study highlights the expectations that students have for the basic science foundation teaching within their professional training and signals a preference for being taught experientially/practically. Differences were discerned between medical and dental students that might reflect the direct association between systems physiology and pathophysiology and the application of this knowledge within the medical field in comparison to the dental field, which is heavily skill‐based. Clin. Anat. 27:976–987, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Attitudes to anatomy dissection in an Irish medical school

Many studies around the world have looked at the stresses placed on medical students by cadaveric dissection. Although these studies have linked the use of cadavers in medical teaching to stress, some investigations have suggested an association with severe psychological stress and even post‐traumatic stress disorder. This study assessed the attitudes of medical and biomedical sciences students in an Irish medical school towards cadaveric dissection by recording, through a questionnaire, their perceptions and experience before initial exposure to dissection and subsequently examining their attitudes after the first dissection and after 9 weeks. Student attitudes towards the dissecting room remained consistently positive for the duration of the study with only a minority of respondents reporting negative symptoms. Pre‐existing attitudes to the idea of dissection were unaffected by exposure and subsequent continuous experience of dissection. The majority of students in this study did not find the dissecting room experience stressful, and considered time spent in the dissecting room valuable. However, the proportion of students with negative experiences in the dissecting room was higher than has been reported in previous studies. Many respondents felt they could be better prepared for the dissecting room experience, indicating an increasing requirement for effective preparatory programmes. Clin. Anat. 22:386–391, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Physical injuries in the dissecting room

Dissection of human cadavers remains an important element of learning anatomy in many medical and dental schools. During this activity, students are introduced to the safe handling of surgical instruments. The frequency, type, and mechanism of associated injuries are unknown. We undertook a retrospective cohort analysis of dissecting-room accidents during a 6-year period (2001-2006). Injury rates were adjusted to account for exposure risk. A total of 55 injuries, all minor, were recorded in 53 students, representing an overall injury rate of less than 4 injuries per 1,000 hr of dissection. Twenty-four injuries were documented in third-year medical students, 13 in second-year medical students, 10 in second-year dental students, and 8 in third-year science students. There was a statistically significant difference in injury rates between the groups due to a higher than expected rate among second-year medical students and a lower than expected rate among third-year medical students (P < 0.01). At least 38 (69%) injuries were from a scalpel blade. A further three injuries were from bone spicules. All except two injuries affected the hand. In conclusion, it is unusual for students to injure themselves in the dissecting room. Injuries tend to be minor and largely related to scalpel blades. A greater awareness of hazards due to sharps and safe handling techniques may reduce the risks of minor injury and better prepare students for future clinical practice.     

The relationships between learning outcomes and methods of teaching anatomy as perceived by medical students

The best method to teach anatomy continues to be widely debated. Many UK medical schools have recently changed their course structure with the use of cadaveric dissection declining. A recent study by Patel and Moxham ([ 2008] Clin. Anat. 21:182-189) found that professional anatomists viewed dissection to be the most suitable method to fulfil anatomical learning outcomes. The opinion of 580 second year medical students across two UK medical schools was surveyed. A methodology similar to that employed by Patel and Moxham ([ 2008] Clin. Anat. 21:182-189) aimed to explore which teaching methods students considered best to fulfil a prescribed set of anatomical learning outcomes. A total of 302 responses were returned (52%). Difference in students' opinion with regard to the teaching methods was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). A statistically significant agreement was found between the opinions of students from Imperial and Nottingham, and between the anatomists and the students, regarding the effectiveness of all teaching methods at meeting learning outcomes. Dissection was overall most "fit for purpose" in meeting learning outcomes, but no single teaching modality met all aspects of the curriculum. Dissection should remain a leading teaching modality in modern medical school anatomy courses. In addition to its role in the teaching of anatomy, it enables learning in a social context and holds broader learning opportunities to help future doctors best fulfill Good Medical Practice guidelines (General Medical Council, 2006). This, however, should be in the context of a multi-modal approach to the teaching of anatomy.     

The dissection course – necessary and indispensable for teaching anatomy to medical students

Anatomy is a major basic subject in medicine and related biomedical sciences. A central tool most universities use for teaching anatomy is the “dissection course”, in which medical students learn the basic constructional principles of the human body by dissecting a cadaver. In recent years, the relevance and value of the dissection laboratory have been under discussion at different universities due to high costs and problems of shortness in time in some medical curricula. Indeed, during the last 10 years, several universities in the US and the UK have abandoned dissection and have moved from a cadaver-oriented to a cadaverless anatomy. This development results in a fundamental discussion on the role of the “dissection course” in the medical curriculum, ultimately raising the question as to whether we should continue teaching anatomy by dissection. This article presents nine arguments for the dissection course as a central tool for teaching macroscopic anatomy and is an attestment to the continuation of the use of cadaver material in anatomical laboratories within the auspices of scholastic and university order for the benefit of future physicians with due respect and honour guaranteed for every donor.     

Do we need dissection in an integrated problem-based learning medical course? Perceptions of first- and second-year students

BACKGROUND: The introduction of a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at the School of Medicine of the University of Melbourne has necessitated a reduction in the number of lectures and limited the use of dissection in teaching anatomy. In the new curriculum, students learn the anatomy of different body systems using PBL tutorials, practical classes, pre-dissected specimens, computer-aided learning multimedia and a few dissection classes. The aims of this study are: (1) to assess the views of first- and second-year medical students on the importance of dissection in learning about the anatomy, (2) to assess if students' views have been affected by demographic variables such as gender, academic background and being a local or an international student, and (3) to assess which educational tools helped them most in learning the anatomy and whether dissection sessions have helped them in better understanding anatomy. METHODS: First- and second-year students enrolled in the medical course participated in this study. Students were asked to fill out a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. Data was analysed using Mann-Whitney's U test, Wilcoxon's signed-ranks or the calculation of the Chi-square value. RESULTS: The response rates were 89% for both first- and second-year students. Compared to second-year students, first-year students perceived dissection to be important for deep understanding of anatomy (P < 0.001), making learning interesting (P < 0.001) and introducing them to emergency procedures (P < 0.001). Further, they preferred dissection over any other approach (P < 0.001). First-year students ranked dissection (44%), textbooks (23%), computer-aided learning (CAL), multimedia (10%), self-directed learning (6%) and lectures (5%) as the most valuable resources for learning anatomy, whereas second-year students found textbooks (38%), dissection (18%), pre-dissected specimens (11%), self-directed learning (9%), lectures (7%) and CAL programs (7%) as most useful. Neither of the groups showed a significant preference for pre-dissected specimens, CAL multimedia or lectures over dissection. CONCLUSIONS: Both first- and second-year students, regardless of their gender, academic background, or citizenship felt that the time devoted to dissection classes were not adequate. Students agreed that dissection deepened their understanding of anatomical structures, provided them with a three-dimensional perspective of structures and helped them recall what they learnt. Although their perception about the importance of dissection changed as they progressed in the course, good anatomy textbooks were perceived as an excellent resource for learning anatomy. Interestingly, innovations used in teaching anatomy, such as interactive multimedia resources, have not replaced students' perceptions about the importance of dissection.     

Human dissection and attitudes of preclinical students to death and bereavement

Two questionnaires were used to gather information about preclinical education concerning death and bereavement. One was mailed to Heads of Anatomy Departments of 26 UK medical schools. The other was distributed to 220 first- and 210 second-year preclinical students in Cambridge. Among curricular organizers (77% response rate), the motivation for giving such education was primarily to improve knowledge about dissection, and only secondarily and infrequently to prepare students for clinical practice or to address their attitudes or feelings. In contrast, the primary concern of students (response rate 54%) was preparation for encounters with death in clinical practice (61–85%), lesser concerns being to address their own fears and feelings (30–40%) or knowledge about the dissecting room, cadavers, etc. (23–37%). Students were also asked about their reactions to dissection in order to determine whether the dissecting room might provide an opportunity for teaching about death. Most (66%) admitted experiencing moderate to extreme apprehension in advance of dissection. Apprehension was associated, on starting dissection, with very strong reactions, which in some cases interfered with learning. Some (27%) dealt with this by depersonalization. The only previous experiences that showed a significant association with the occurrence during dissection of interfering and/or non-task-related thoughts and feelings were (i) for both men and women the occurrence and quality of handling of death experience(s) at school, and (ii) for a group of male students the experience of the death of more than one close non-family friend. A strategy for effective use of the dissecting room in studies on death is outlined. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Advance organizers in a gross anatomy dissection course and their effects on academic achievement

We presented two kinds of advance organizers (AOs), video clips and prosection, for a gross anatomy dissection course and compared their effects on academic achievement and student perception of the learning experience. In total, 141 students at Chonnam National University Medical School were randomly assigned to two groups: Group 1 (n = 70) was provided with video clips AO, whereas Group 2 (n = 71) was provided with prosection AO, the use of cadaveric specimens dissected by the course instructor. Student self‐assessment scores regarding the learning objectives of upper limb anatomy improved significantly in both groups. Academic achievement scores in Group 2 were significantly higher than those in Group 1, although the self‐assessment scores were not significantly different between the groups. Additionally, students in Group 2 responded significantly more positively to the statements about perception of the learning experience such as helping them understand the course content and concepts, decreasing anxiety about the dissection course, and participating actively in the dissection. It would seem that the application of prosection as an AO improved academic achievement and increased student engagement and satisfaction. This study will contribute to designing effective AOs and developing a teaching and learning strategy for a gross anatomy dissection course. Clin. Anat. 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Orientation to dissection: Assisting students through the transition

Human dissection continues to be strongly argued for teaching human anatomy to medical students and is technically and emotionally demanding. An orientation to dissection and the laboratory are provided for students before beginning their work because students' and families' reactions to dissection are often complex. This study explored medical students' experiences of attending an orientation to human dissection and the anatomy laboratory. Students' reactions, feelings, and thoughts were enquired about 1 year after beginning dissection at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Qualitative research methods, specifically one-on-one semistructured interview were utilized. Third-year medical students self-selected into the study and were interviewed 1 year after entering the laboratory. Transcribed audiotapes of the interviews were analyzed for themes across the interviews. One year after dissection students have vivid memories with differing ways of viewing the body that may help or hinder with dissection. The themes presented include orientation, student anticipation, psychological approach to the body, normalizing-continuing disquiet, and social reference. The orientation eases student entry into the laboratory. There can be ongoing feelings of ambivalence regards the body for some students. Novel findings include that students not only have their own feelings to deal with but also those of friends and family who question them and may feel uncomfortable with the idea of them dissecting. Even one year after beginning dissection, students may emotionally struggle with their work and may require further support, including how they talk about sensitive topics with other people.     

Reactions of first-year medical students to their initial encounter with a cadaver in the dissecting room

This study reports the results of a 1986 questionnaire survey of 100 first-year medical students regarding their preparation for and reactions to their first encounter with a human cadaver in the dissecting room. The students were aware of psychological and physical reactions to this experience, and although they felt adequately prepared prior to the class, expressed a desire for greater preparation afterwards, particularly through more discussion of the experience with the anatomy staff. A surprising number of the students (62) had had prior exposure to a dead human body, which was a significant influence upon their reactions. The results of this study suggest a need for improving both the preparation for coping with dissection and the follow-up opportunities for dealing with professional and emotional issues raised during human dissection.     

The role of three-dimensional information in health care and medical education: the implications for anatomy and dissection

The purposes of medical education can be summarized as learning how to take an effective history, perform a physical examination, and perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures with minimal risk and maximal benefit to patients. Because patients are three-dimensional (3-D) objects, health care and medical education involve learning and applying 3-D information. The foundation begins in anatomy where students form and confirm or reform their own 3-D ideas and images of the development and structure of the human body at all levels of organization. Students go on to understand the interdependence of structure and function in health and disease. The basic questions for those teaching anatomy are "How do we learn and use 3-D information?" and "How is it taught most effectively?" These are not easy questions for teachers and are rarely asked by those who currently defend or reframe curricula. Unfortunately, there is little information on how we learn 3-D information and no evidence-based literature on the relative long-term vocational effectiveness of methods for teaching it. It is clear that we learn in several distinct modalities and that our students represent a spectrum of learning styles. To support the 3-D learning essential to both medical education and health care, anatomical societies need to provide answers to the following questions: Do the opportunities of dissection (visual, tactile, time, discovery, group process, mentoring) contribute to short- and long-term learning of 3-D information? If so, how? Does dissection offer significant advantages over other methods for learning, confirming, and using 3-D information in anatomy? Answers to these questions will provide a rational basis for decisions about curricular changes in anatomy courses (if, where, and when dissection should occur). This, in turn, will link these changes to society's ultimate purposes for medical education and health care rather than to the fiscal concerns of the businesses of health care and medical education, which is the current practice.     

On behalf of tradition: An analysis of medical student and physician beliefs on how anatomy should be taught

Human anatomy, one of the basic medical sciences, is a time‐honored discipline. As such, it is taught using traditional methods, cadaveric dissection chief among them. Medical imaging has recently gained popularity as a teaching method in anatomy courses. In light of a general tendency to reduce course hours, this has resulted in a decrease of dissection time and intense debates between traditional and modern approaches to anatomy teaching. In an attempt to explore trends in the attitudes of medical professionals toward the various methods of anatomy teaching, medical imaging in particular, the authors constructed a questionnaire and conducted a nationwide survey among medical students (in all stages at medical school), residents, and specialists in all fields of medicine. The survey results demonstrated indisputable appreciation of traditional methods of anatomy teaching, particularly cadaveric dissection, and showed that specialists believe significantly more strongly than clinical or preclinical students that anatomy and medical imaging should be taught separately. Strong correlations among the components of the traditional approach to anatomy instruction were also found. In light of the results, it was recommended that imaging should be incorporated into anatomy courses with caution, and, as far as possible, not at the expense of dissection time. It was advised that medical imaging has to be taught as a separate course, parallel to a traditional anatomy course. This will allow anatomical principles to be appreciated, which in turn will serve the students when they study radiology. “And we proceed in the following order: in front walks Nikolai with the slides or atlases, I come after him, and after me, his head humbly lowered, strides the cart horse; or else, if necessary, a cadaver is carried in first, after the cadaver walks Nikolai, and so on. At my appearance, the students rise, then sit down, and the murmur of the sea suddenly grows still. Calm ensues.” —From “A Boring Story: From the Notebook of an Old Man” by Anton Chekhov. Clin. Anat. 28:980–984, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Are we teaching sufficient anatomy at medical school? The opinions of newly qualified doctors

In recent decades wide-ranging changes have occurred in medical school curricula. Time spent studying gross anatomy has declined amidst controversy as to how, what, and when teaching is best delivered. This reduced emphasis has led to concerns amongst clinicians that a new generation of doctors are leaving medical school with insufficient anatomical knowledge. Previous studies have established that medical students value their anatomy teaching during medical school. None have sought to establish views on the sufficiency of this teaching. We investigate the opinions of newly qualified doctors at a UK medical school and relate these opinions to career intentions and academic performance in the setting of a traditional dissection and prosection-based course. Overall nearly half of respondents believe they received insufficient anatomy teaching. A substantial proportion called for the integration of anatomy teaching throughout the medical school course. Trainees intent on pursuing a surgical career were more likely to believe anatomy teaching was insufficient than those pursuing a nonsurgical career; however, overall there was no statistical difference in relation to the mean for any individual career group. This study adds to the current debates in anatomical sciences education, indicating that overall, regardless of career intentions, new doctors perceive the need for greater emphasis on anatomical teaching.     

Overcoming the tension between scientific and religious views in teaching anatomical dissection: the Israeli experience

More than three thousand years of Jewish historical and scholarly writings have addressed the problematic relationship between anatomical dissection for the purpose of medical education and Judaism, which values the wholeness and sanctity of the human body. The Department of Anatomy at Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine has sought to bridge the gap between science and Jewish religious-cultural values. The Department requires students to conduct laboratory dissections on cadavers in an ethical and respectful manner. Student emotions are also addressed by the Department as students are encouraged to share their apprehensions and concerns about participating in dissections in discussion groups. At the same time, the high academic standards of the medical school are strictly upheld, ensuring that each student has a thorough knowledge of human anatomy. Teaching anatomy in Israeli medical school involves reconciling two conflicting approaches to dissection: (1) The scientific-medical approach, which views the human body as inert material and anatomical dissection as a means of studying anatomy and gaining medical knowledge. (2) A Jewish religious point of view, which perceives anatomical dissection as a threat to the sanctity of a human body and leads to the defilement of those participating in the dissection. In this article, the views of major Jewish scholars regarding dissection are presented and discussed in relation to their implementation in the dissection theater. These views are examined in an anthropological light based on observations in the dissection room and interviews with students and faculty members. The findings reflect the emotions and concerns of Israeli medical students at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine in particular as well as those of the Israeli-Jewish population as a whole. In the dissection theater, medical students must gain a comprehensive understanding of human anatomy while dealing with their own personal ethical, cultural, and religious views on death and dying. Confronting these issues enhances both personal growth as individuals and professional behavior as future physicians.     

The anatomy of the clinical examination

“The Anatomy of the Clinical Examination” is a newly introduced component of the anatomical teaching of medical undergraduates at Glasgow University. It comes in the final term of the anatomy course and aims to lead students readily from the study of dissecting room cadavers to the examination of the living body. The organization of the course is explained; it is hoped that this course will be of interest to other anatomists involved in the training of medical students.     

What do students actually do during a dissection course? First steps towards understanding a complex learning experience.

PURPOSE: To obtain data about students' actual individual choices for certain activities in dissection courses and about possible factors that influence those choices. METHOD: During one winter semester that ended in 2004, the authors asked 371 students from three dissection courses within one medical school in Germany to complete questionnaires on the amount of time spent each course day on certain lab activities (hands-on dissection, prosection, reading, etc.). Additional questions inquired about students' motivation, attitude towards dissection, emotional or ethical concerns, course evaluation, and personality traits. RESULTS: A total of 309 students (83%) responded. On average, students spent about 33% of their course time with active dissection, 27% studying prosected material, and 31% with cadaver-unrelated activities. There were statistically significant differences among all of the three courses. Individual variability in dissection activity was very high: time devoted to active dissection ranged from 0% to 82% of daily course time. In a multiple linear regression model, the personal factors measured (e.g., attitude towards dissection) accounted for 9% of the total variance of time devoted to active dissection. CONCLUSIONS: A dissection course is not a uniform learning experience--a fact that should be borne in mind in general discussions about dissection and in the planning of dissection courses. Students within the same course seek divergent learning experiences. More still needs to be learned about the motivation for their individual choices. The data from the present study constitute a baseline for future research into anatomical dissection as a teaching method.     

Attitudes and Responses of Medical Students and Professional Anatomists to Dissecting Different Regions of the Body

Although there have been many studies assessing emotional responses of medical students to the dissecting room experience, little is known about whether dissecting particular regions of the human body cause more concern than others. Furthermore, no studies have been conducted on the concerns of professional anatomists. In this study, we assessed the hypothesis that medical students are more concerned about the dissection of the face, the perineum and the extremities of the limbs. We also hypothesized that there are gender differences. For the reactions of a group of professional anatomists from the United States and Europe we hypothesized that they were less concerned than the medical students and showed no differences across the regions of the body. The hypotheses were tested by means of questionnaires distributed to medical students at Cardiff University and at the Descartes Paris University who had recently completed their anatomy courses and to anatomists working at universities in Europe and the USA. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the ethical committees at the Cardiff School of Biosciences and at Paris and all data was obtained by consent of the respondents and remained confidential. The findings were complex, although the level of concern was low overall. Some regional differences were discerned, particularly concerning the face, the perineum, the hand and the female chest. Anatomists were less concerned than the students and female students and female anatomists showed more concern than their male counterparts. Few differences were discerned however between student respondents who had positive and neutral attitudes to gender “politics” and those who espoused negative views. We recommend that, at the start of an anatomy dissection course, time is spent dealing with sensitive issues (including equality and diversity issues), emotional responses, and matters pertaining to mortality. However, we argue that this should not involve hiding regions of the body, nor overreacting to the natural anxiety of students, since doing either of these things could enhance negative reactions and stifle the progress of the student from being a layperson to a competent healthcare professional. Clin. Anat. 32:253–267, 2019. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.