Anatomy is the fundamental of medical and health professional education. Anatomic dissection enables the examination of the organs in the human cadavers systematically and topographically. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the first cadaver demonstration and the anxiety of medical, dental and pharmacy students. A questionnaire was distributed to 486 students in the same academic year (2009–2010) at Ege University. The review of anxiety reveals the circumstances such as exhaustion, stress, depression, anxiety, destructive life, deterioration of mental or physical quality or asthenia (over-fatigue), professionally having a serious effect on the students. 486 (85.3 %) students in total participated in this research carried out as based on voluntariness as 338 (93.9 %) students from the medical faculty, 78 (70.9 %) students from the faculty of dentistry and 70 (70 %) students from the faculty of pharmacy.

A medium level of anxiety was detected in the students in their first encounter with the cadaver. The state anxiety score (SAS) average taken by all the students who took part in the research is 42.6 ± 5.60 and trait anxiety score average is 46.6 ± 5.0. No discrepancy was detected among the faculties with respect to anxiety score. While the SASs of the male students were higher than the girls, the trait anxiety scores of the girl students were detected to be higher than male students. While the characteristics and the cultural life of our society force the male students into stronger behavioral patterns, they may actually increase their anxiety level in distressed conditions. The fact that trait anxiety is high in both sexes, particularly in female students can be explained by the patient responsibility and the work load undertaken in the professions in the medical field as early as the period of education.

Before the students’ applied lessons with the cadavers start, a preparatory session must be planned for this education to decrease the anxiety level by sharing their sensations, feelings and perceptions related to the demonstration.