Perceived Benefits of Anatomy Coursework Prior to Medical and Dental School.

Student struggles in gross anatomy coursework at the professional level can result in hours of remediation along with a need to allot time and other resources by both the student and the faculty. Since this course typically occurs in the first semester of the first year, programs can turn to admissions data to try to determine which of these students may struggle. This study looked at two years of medical (n = 280) and dental (n = 78) students to determine if there is a relationship between pre-admissions anatomy coursework and performance in gross anatomy at the professional school level. Students provided data regarding their past anatomy coursework and final grades in professional school gross anatomy courses were obtained. In addition, students responded to questions regarding their feelings of preparation and how they valued the prior anatomy coursework as it related to the professional course. Statistical analysis showed no difference in final course grade between students with and without prior anatomy in either program. Counter to the numerical data, 96.6% of the students in the study recommended an anatomy course prior to pursuing a health science degree. The primary reasons given for this recommendation were the benefits of repeated content exposure, knowledge of the anatomy terminology, and decreased stress regarding the course. The results from this study suggest that the benefits of prior anatomy may be seen more in the students' stress and quality of life rather in the numerical performance of course grades.

Prosection or Dissection: Which is Best for Teaching the Anatomy of the Hand and Foot?

Due to the current trend of decreasing contact hours and less emphasis being given to the basic science courses in the pre-clinical years of medical education, it is essential that new approaches to teaching gross anatomy are investigated to ensure medical students are being adequately exposed to anatomical content. This study retrospectively analyzed practical examination data from four medical gross anatomy classes (N = 569) to ascertain which pedagogical approach, student participation in the dissection process, or interaction with prosected specimens is best for teaching the anatomy of the hand and foot. Data analysis involved the use of propensity score matching, a nonparametric preprocessing statistical approach which ensures accurate representation of the true treatment effect by balancing cohorts prior to statistical analysis. Statistical analysis indicated that those students who were exposed to the anatomy of the hand through interactions with prosected specimens performed 5.6% better (P = 0.012) while for the foot, students who interacted with prosections performed 13.0% better (P < 0.001). Although limited, data from this study suggest that utilizing prosections of the hand and foot seems to be a more advantageous pedagogical approach for teaching these regions than requiring students to dissect them.