Objectification, Desensitization, and Personification: Medical Student Strategies for Engaging with Donor Bodies in the Anatomy Lab

Background: Human dissection remains a cornerstone of anatomy education, providing students with an early and profound encounter with the dead. Beyond technical skill acquisition, students must navigate the challenge of engaging with donor bodies in ways that are respectful, professional, and emotionally sustainable. Given the formative role of dissection in professional identity formation, this study explored the strategies students adopt in interacting with donor bodies and the motivations guiding these choices. Methods: All medical students (M1-M4) at a single institution were invited to participate, and recruitment was closed after 44 students volunteered for either an interview or focus group. Of these, 24 joined focus groups and 20 completed individual semi-structured interviews. Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed using inductive coding. Results: Analysis revealed four main strategies employed by students: (1) complete objectification of the donor as a non-living entity; (2) active desensitization to facilitate dissection; (3) overwhelming personification that impeded both learning and technical performance; and (4) middle-ground approaches involving oscillation between desensitization and personification. Conclusion: These findings highlight the diversity of strategies medical students use to engage with donor bodies in the anatomy lab and underscore the importance of recognizing and supporting this variation to foster ethical, compassionate learning environments and professional identity formation.