Addressing the Ethical Challenges of Using Donated Bodies for Anatomy Education in Medical Students

Experts believe that the best method for learning anatomy is through the use of cadavers. It has been proven that dissection on cadavers plays an effective role in teaching scientific, ethical, and collaborative skills to medical students. Hands-on experience with cadavers helps reduce medical errors among surgical residents, as they can practice and refine their surgical and diagnostic skills in a safe learning environment. The shortage of cadavers for training medical students is seen in many parts of the world. This challenge is increasing day by day with the increase in the establishment of medical universities in the world and the increase in the number of medical students. Observing ethical principles is one of the main strategies for influencing society’s attitude and promoting promote body donation after death, which can have a positive impact on promoting educational goals in medical schools.

In this study, keywords were selected and reviewed in reputable databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar from August 2000 to August 2024. A total of 250 articles were extracted, and after reviewing the abstracts and impact factors, about 27 final articles were selected, whose information was used in summarizing the results of the present study.

Ethical principles were examined in four areas: informed consent, maintaining human dignity, preserving privacy, and responsible use of donated bodies. Ethical challenges in these areas can negatively impact body donation programs by volunteers and financial institutions supporting these programs. The points that caused challenges in these areas were thoroughly examined, and appropriate solutions were provided.

  Adhering to ethical principles in the four mentioned areas can significantly influence the willingness of body donation volunteers and financial institutions supporting these programs, leading to improved practical anatomy education in medical schools and consequently enhancing the level of medical education for medical students and for residents.