Anatomy Laboratory Postdoctoral Training during COVID-19 Pandemic in Europe: Challenges and Solutions

Postdoctoral researchers utilise their time in training to broaden their research interests, learn new ideas and practices, such as grant application and laboratory administration, develop their higher-order thinking and communication skills, and get familiar with new scientific methodologies and concepts. Anatomy postdoctoral trainees working in laboratory research benefit greatly from biological sciences. During the COVID-19 pandemic, postdoctoral researchers face several challenges, including restricted hands-on laboratory work, limited lab supplies and equipment, less labour work as peoples become more isolated, and reduced supervision of their postgraduate students. Hence, in this commentary, we discussed the challenges and solutions during the anatomy laboratory postdoctoral fellowship amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, with regard to our own experience. Academic and research institutions, financial institutions, learning and professional associations, and employers must all work together to define the future, regardless of the situation. © 2022 UPM Press. All rights reserved.

Imagineering Anatomy Assessment Amidst COVID-19: Turning Obstacles into Achievements

A well-designed assessment has beneficial impacts on students' learning and competency attainment. Failure in obtaining psychomotor learning competency, lack of understanding of assessment principles among instructors, unoptimized information and technology facilities, and difficulties in ensuring the integrity of online examination are among the threats to validity of online anatomy assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure the validity of anatomy assessment during the pandemic, it is important to adopt several educational principles into the assessment design. We solidify the input discussed in the Malaysian Anatomical Association webinar 2021, on the challenges of anatomy online assessment and proposed six solutions to the challenges, namely adopting the programmatic assessment design, conducting small group in-person high stake examination, modifying assessment policy, utilizing question bank software, upgrading ICT facilities, and offering the ICT training to the students and instructors. It is envisioned that anatomy assessment are future ready are adaptive to change. © 2022 UPM Press. All rights reserved.

Face Mask Usage During COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevalence and Associated Factors in a Malaysian Medical School

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus strain. Anxiety, anticipation, and lack of knowledge in the previous experience on severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (H1N1) pandemic have a substantial impact on significant public health behaviours including wearing face mask in public spaces. We investigate the prevalence of face mask usage and its associated factors during COVID-19 amongst students and staff of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Using a cross-sectional study, 220 respondents participated in an electronic version of a self-administered questionnaire. Analyses were performed using the Chi-square test, IBM SPSS Statistics 25, with statistical significance at p<0.05. Out of the 220 respondents, 197 (89.5%) reported that they wore face masks all the time. Most of the respondents (90.3%) had a high level of precautionary measures against COVID-19, 89.6% selected the internet as their source of information and 90.9% had a good attitude level towards measures against COVID-19. There were significant associations between hygienic practices (p=0.001), source of information (internet) (p=0.025), and attitude towards COVID-19 (p=0.001) with face mask usage. This study demonstrated a high prevalence (89.5%) of face mask usage during the COVID-19 outbreak. © 2022. ASM Science Journal.All Rights Reserved

Anatomy teaching and learning in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic

The abrupt transition from face-to-face to online anatomy teaching amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has posed great challenges to anatomy lecturers in Malaysia, as they have had to adapt to new skills to prepare and deliver online classes. These online classes were delivered either synchronously via a web teleconferencing application or asynchronously through pre-recorded videos that were uploaded to the learning management system (LMS). The online delivery of anatomy practical classes has become a major concern among anatomy lecturers and students, especially in public institutions, as there is a lack of hands-on experience and social interaction. Nevertheless, some private medical schools have adapted well to both online lectures and practical classes, as they had been venturing towards online learning and virtual reality tools even before the pandemic commenced. The Malaysian Anatomical Association (MAA) webinar, "Transformation of Anatomy Education in Malaysia during COVID-19 Pandemic", discussed the issues related to lecturers' and students' receptivity to online anatomy classes. This study discusses the issues related to online anatomy teaching and learning (T&L) and the actions taken by the university's governance and anatomy faculty members to resolve the issues discussed in the academic discourse. © 2021 Malaysian Association of Education in Medicine and Health Sciences and Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.