Supporting minority cultures during initial engagements with body donors in the dissecting room: A pilot study exploring perspectives of Pasifika medical students around culture and cultural safety

The first experience of medical students in the dissecting room (DR) is a challenging event. Few data exist around whether or how culturally appropriate support is required in the DR for students from ethnic minorities. This pilot study explored Pasifika (peoples with heritage from the Pacific Islands) students' first experience of the DR and exposure to body donors to explore cultural perspectives around this event. Participants were second year Pasifika medical students with no prior engagement with body donors. Following a first exposure to body donors, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted. Questioning explored how Pasifika students experienced initial DR engagement in regard to Pasifika culture and cultural safety. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically. Eight Pasifika students were interviewed (ages 18-32 years, mean 21.3 years, five females); mean interview duration 24.5 min. Four themes were identified: cultural observations, student behaviors, cultural safety, and cultural comfort. Dominant messages included the cultural challenges presented by this event, conformity of cultural behavior, identification of cultural safety being appropriate, and illumination of potential cultural support strategies. Current mechanisms supporting cultural safety were identified as adequate, which juxtaposed against behavior where students could not act in a culturally authentic manner. Suggestions were made around improving cultural comfort, such as the presence of elders or Christian-focused elements such as prayer. Enhanced cultural support could increase cultural comfort for the initial DR and body donor experience of Pasifika students, which may facilitate increased cultural knowledge and promote cultural diversity within the medical student cohort.