To promote student learning, educational strategies should provide multiple levels of engagement with the subject matter. This study investigated examination data from five first year medical gross anatomy class cohorts (692 students) to determine if enhanced student performance was correlated with learning through dissection in a course that used a rotating dissection schedule coupled with peer teaching and other associated experiences. When students performed two of five weekly dissections for a given unit, their average scores on both laboratory and written examinations tended to increase as compared to when they had completed only one week of dissection (P < 0.01). However, these performance gains differed across the class strata and were related to the amount of dissection completed. Students in the upper quartile (UQS) of the class benefited when they had dissected once (92.8%) or twice (92.4%), and these scores were significantly higher than those attained when learning from peers (90.3%, P < 0.01). Students in the lower quartile (LQS) benefited most from the dissection experiences, where practical examination performance was better (77.8% and 80.5%) than when these students learned material from their peers (73.7%, P < 0.01). Although UQS benefited from dissection, LQS benefited to a greater extent in both the practical and written examinations with dissection. Although limited, these data suggest that dissection, coupled with associated educational activities, is an effective pedagogical strategy for learning. Further investigation is required to evaluate the concomitant benefits of peer teaching that are associated with the dissection experience. Anat Sci Educ 9: 238-246. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.

Dissection and dissection‐associated required experiences improve student performance in gross anatomy: Differences among quartiles

The College of Medicine and Medical Sciences of the Arabian Gulf University has an undergraduate medical curriculum that uses problem-based learning as the principal teaching strategy. Teaching of anatomy comes at various places in the curriculum, and the anatomy museum serves as an important resource and engages the students in self-directed learning. Although the museum had sufficient resource materials, the emphasis on individualized instruction and self-directed learning in anatomy has resulted in the need for an effective approach and a reorganization of the facilities in the museum. Thus, we recently rearranged the museum to create 42 modules or stations (learning carrels) focusing on specific organ systems for self-study by students. Computer-assisted programs, videocassettes, ultrasound, and structured living anatomy sessions in the clinical professional skills program facilitated such an arrangement. An increased utilization by the students was observed in the reorganized museum. Thus, the museum can play an effective role in the study of anatomy through problem-based integrated learning modules. Clin. Anat. 16:256–261, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Teaching of anatomy in a problem-based curriculum at the Arabian Gulf University: the new face of the museum.

Little attention has been given to structured teaching of applied anatomy to senior medical students in problem-based learning (PBL) medical schools. A course named “Anatomical Principles in Surgical Practice” was introduced at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) in 2001 for fifth- and sixth-year medical students during their surgical clerkship rotation. The course aims to emphasize, update and integrate applied anatomical concepts that are essential for surgical practice. The course consists of 15 interactive sessions held weekly to ensure topics coincide with the surgical problem-solving sessions. A questionnaire was administered to students completing their surgical rotations (n=131) seeking their perceptions about the new course during the academic years 2001, 2002 and 2003. To measure learning outcome, 70 students were also given pre- and post-tests. Positive responses were given by 85.2% of the students for course arrangement, by 92.0% for course content, by 88.3% for clinical correlation, by 95.2% for level of teaching and by 87.2% for overall judgment. The students’ mean scores in the post-test (71.7%±11.7) was significantly higher than their mean scores in the pre-test (42.3%±12.6, p<0.001). Students liked the course and reported feeling more confident in correlating anatomy with surgery during their rotations. By extending anatomical teaching into the clerkship phase, a link between basic medical and clinical sciences has been established that further enhances vertical integration within a PBL curriculum in a spiral fashion.

Integrating applied anatomy in surgical clerkship in a problem-based learning curriculum.

Objective

Acquiring competency in performing clinical procedures is central to professional education of healthcare providers. Internet visual resources (IVR), defined as visual materials openly accessible on public websites, provides a new channel to learn clinical procedures. This qualitative study aimed to profile the experience and opinions of undergraduate students (in dentistry, medicine and nursing) in learning clinical procedures through IVR.



Methods

From clinical degree programmes (Bachelor of Dental Surgery, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and Bachelor of Nursing) of University of Hong Kong, 31 students were recruited to join six focus group discussions, which were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis using inductive method, in which themes emerge from data.



Findings

Students actively looked for IVRs through various means and used them for pre-clinical preparation, post-clinical revision, learning simple and advanced procedures, exploring alternative and updated techniques, and benchmarking against international peers. IVRs were valued for their visual stimulation, inclusion of a wide variety of real-life cases, convenience in access, user-friendliness and time-saving features. Students tended to share and discuss IVRs with their peers rather than with tutors, even when contents deviated from school teaching or faculty's e-learning materials. When doubts persisted, they chose to follow faculty guidelines for examination purpose. Students were frustrated sometimes by difficulties in judging the scientific quality, lack of immediate interactive discussions and loosely structured presentations in some IVRs. Teachers' attitudes towards IVR appeared to vary greatly.



Conclusion

Despite the wide spectrum of experience and opinions, IVR was generally viewed by undergraduates from across clinical faculties as enhancing their clinical confidence and self-perceived competency, enriching their learning experience and serving as an important supplement to formal learning in the planned curriculum.

Learning clinical procedures through Internet visual resources: a qualitative study amongst undergraduate students.

Introduction Coronary artery bypass grafting is an established means of treating advanced coronary artery disease.
In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the radial artery as an entry route during coronary angiography.
Accurate knowledge of the branching pattern of this artery and its relation to surrounding structures is of great importance
in the care of surgical patients.
Method s This study was conducted on 75 formalin-fixed upper limbs in order to note the variations in the branching
pattern and termination of the radial artery.
Results The radial artery divided into three branches in 2.7% of cases and into two branches in 52.0% of cases. The
radial recurrent artery originated from the brachial artery instead of the radial artery in 12.0% of cases. The radial recurrent
artery, palmar carpal artery, first dorsal metacarpal artery and superficial palmar artery were absent in 1.3%, 26.7%, 9.3%
and 5.3% of cases, respectively. 6.7% of cases had a high origin of the superficial palmar artery.
Conclusion The rich photographic documentation of the variation of branching pattern and termination of radial artery
is not only of academic interest but also useful to surgeons and radiologists working in the same area.

A morphological study of variations in the branching pattern and termination of the radial artery.

Summary

In an attempt to optimize medical students’ enthusiasm to learn, rather than to be taught, ‘The anatomical basis of clinical medicine: An anatomy learning programme’ has been introduced into an evolving medical school curriculum. Initially, educational concepts were identified, the aims and goals clarified, then the learning process and its evaluation techniques were introduced. The programme encompasses the use of a specifically designed course guide, a weekly 35 mm topographic slide presentation, prosection by senior students and then peer-directed group tutorials under the guidance of teachers. Surgical and radiological teaching colleagues cooperate in reinforcing student understanding of the relevance of anatomical concepts and data to clinical medicine.



Students are encouraged to dissect personally, use the departmental museum as a learning centre, and at any time take advantage of freely available audiovisual aids. Tutorial situations are used by the students for self-evaluation, while promotional evaluation (an honours-pass-fail system) is based on the tutors’ assessments, two ‘on demand’ multiple choice, two laboratory identification and a final oral examination.

A. A. Travill

Papers

The anatomical basis of clinical practice: an anatomy learning programme