Attitudes of the medical profession to whole body and organ donation.
Cadaveric dissection remains an important part of undergraduate medical education in anatomy. In a concerted effort to rise the number of doctors in practice in Ireland the amount of medical school placements has been increased steadily since 1995. This poses a problem as the number of cadavers has remained unchanged despite an overall increase in the population Ireland over the last twenty years. The medical profession plays a central part in raising public awareness of living and post-mortem organ donation. Previous studies have examined the attitudes of medical students to whole body donation, however to our knowledge this is the first study that evaluates the attitudes of medical professionals. We assess the opinions of junior and senior doctors at the time of their dissection experience and in their current practice. We show that their attitudes have changed as their clinical experience grows.
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland. Electronic address: connorjgreen@gmail.com.
Connor
C
Green
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Waterford Regional Hospital, Ardkeen, Dunmore Road, Co. Waterford, Ireland.
Dermot
D
Bowden
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Diarmuid
D
Molony
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Neil
N
Burke
School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Patrick
P
Felle
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Sean
S
Dudeney
D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D002102:Cadaver; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000941:ethics*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement
Anatomical donor programs; Anatomical sciences/medical education; Anatomy teaching; Organ donation