Body Donation Program for Anatomical Teaching: The Perception of Brazilian Students

The donation of bodies is constituted as an alternative to the teaching learning of human anatomy, since the dissection of materials from these works as a foundation for excellence education among health professionals. Due to the relevance of the topic addressed, the objective of the study was to evaluate the factors that influence the positioning of people, as well as the knowledge of the same in relation to this subject. In this way, a qualitative field research was carried out through the application of semi-structured questionnaires to 36 students of the Biology, Nutrition and Nursing course. The results of these were interpreted and exposed through statistical data. It was evidenced that 83.3% of the interviewees would not donate the body for teaching and research in Universities, among which, the majority (53.2%) claimed the desire to be buried or cremated, while the minority (9.1% %) claimed to be ashamed to be recognized. Among those who voted in favor (16.7%), there was a balance between the options that suggested the costs to the family and the claim to help society and science. As for the knowledge about the subject, 97.2% claimed to have only one prior notion and 2.8% did not know it. Given this, it is perceived that the donation of bodies is a very controversial topic, either because it involves religions and traditions, or because it is little debated by society. The need for awareness campaigns about the importance of the theme in question, as well as the lack of taboos that exists on the theme, are then discussed.