The value of postmortem experience in undergraduate medical education: current perspectives

• Main Authors: Bamber AR, Quince TA
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2015-03-01
• Series: Advances in Medical Education and Practice
• Online Access: http://www.dovepress.com/the-value-of-postmortem-experience-in-undergraduate-medical-education--peer-reviewed-article-AMEP

Andrew R Bamber,1 Thelma A Quince2 1UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK; 2Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Primary Care Unit, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK Abstract: The autopsy has traditionally been used as a tool in undergraduate medical education, but recent decades have seen a sharp decline in their use for teaching. This study reviewed the current status of the autopsy as a teaching tool by means of systematic review of the medical literature, and a questionnaire study involving UK medical schools. Teachers and students are in agreement that autopsy-based teaching has many potential benefits, including a deeper knowledge of basic clinical sciences, medical fallibility, end of life issues, audit and the “hidden curriculum”. The reasons underlying the decline in teaching are complex, but include the decreasing autopsy rate, increasing demands on teachers' time, and confusion regarding the law in some jurisdictions. Maximal use of autopsies for teaching may be achieved by involvement of anatomical pathology technologists and trainee pathologists in teaching, the development of alternative teaching methods using the principles of the autopsy, and clarification of the law. Students gain most benefit from repeated attendance at autopsies, being taught by enthusiastic teachers, when they have been effectively prepared for the esthetic of dissection and the mortuary environment. Keywords: medical education, autopsy, postmortem