Cadaver Dissection and the Ritual Transformation of Medical Students

Abstract

Human cadaver dissection is a common component of Western medical education. While most students react emotionally to the presence of such a deeply-held symbol of death, the expression of emotion is often seen as unprofessional, irrational, and subjective in a community that values rational objectivity and professional emotional distance between physician and patient. Thus, the cadaver dissection room becomes a site for practicing the management of emotion while manipulating the bodies of others. These skills are translated to interactions with living patients, and qualities of the cadaver dissection experiences are reproduced in other domains within the practice of medicine. Through interviews with 10 health care workers who had taken cadaver dissection as part of their professional training, I elicited narratives describing dissection experiences and analyzed them for patterns indicating emotional reactions to cadaver dissection. The respondentsʼ various methods of dealing with psychological stress included crass humor, referring to cadavers as living patients, and focusing on procedures, among other coping behaviors. The different reactions and opinions they expressed indicate that cadaver dissection is a highly ritualized program for conditioning and socializing physicians. Keywords: medical anthropology, medical education, cadaver dissection, emotion management