In death there is life: perceptions of the university community regarding body donation for educational purposes in the United Arab Emirates

Human body dissection is the traditional instructional method for anatomy education worldwide, providing a kinaesthetic learning experience that is often challenging to achieve with other teaching techniques. However, due to lack of body donation programs in Middle Eastern medical schools, dead bodies are imported from abroad. Since literature suggests that the body shortage is influenced by reluctance to donate one's body, this study aimed to determine the perceptions of faculty, staff, and students regarding body donation for educational purposes at a new Dubai-based medical school. An online dually translated questionnaire was administered to the target population (322), of which 150 participants representative of faculty, staff, and students, responded. Although 111 (74.0 %) of participants considered body donation to be appropriate for educational and research purposes, only 44 (29.3 %) of participants expressed willingness to donate their bodies. Reluctance to donate 106 (70.7 %) appeared to be mostly influenced by religion, psychological barrier, and familial reasons. The emergence of four themes (i.e., resource, barrier, humanitarian, and awareness) and the identification of a potential donor group within the group that was willing to donate provided insight into the level of awareness within the university community. Furthermore, such findings may assist to establish future body donation programs and strategize recruitment approaches, especially when there is an ensuing dearth of anatomical donations.