Adapting and implementing “Compassionatomy”: a compassion-cultivating approach to humanistic anatomy training for medical students

Abstract

Abstract Background Humanistic practices offer many benefits in medical education. Compassionatomy, developed at University of California San Diego, incorporates humanistic compassion-cultivating practices into anatomy labs and was found to increase identification with body donors and encourage contemplative practice. This study sought to adapt, implement, and evaluate Compassionatomy for the pre-clinical anatomy program at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Methods A multi-staged, mixed-methods design was used. First, Compassionatomy experts collaborated with CWRU to adapt the Compassionatomy manual to CWRU’s setting. Second, a group interview was facilitated with CWRU implementers and students to identify and address potential challenges before implementation. Third, first-year CWRU medical students participated in Compassionatomy during a 2-week dissection boot camp, followed by six weeks of virtual anatomy laboratories. Half the class was randomly assigned to experience compassion training (CT; 5 min per session, n = 92) and half experienced curriculum-as-usual (control group, n = 92). All were invited to complete pre- and post-surveys assessing identification with the donor and post-course satisfaction. Finally, interviews with students and implementers were conducted. Results Pre-implementation interviews identified five anticipated challenges and informed mitigation strategies that were integrated. Identification with the body donor in the CT group did not significantly differ from controls (group x time: p = 0.11). Post-surveys indicated that 71% rated CT in Boot Camp as worthwhile; 48% would recommend it to others and 27% were neutral. Post-qualitative findings identified program strengths and considerations for refinement. Conclusion This work reports a replicable and iterative adaptation process to support refinement and broader implementation of Compassionatomy to foster compassion and empathy in medical training and provides an example of cross-institutional collaboration for curricular innovation.