Background: The Anatomy Education Environment Measurement Inventory (AEEMI) evaluates the perception of medical students of educational climates with regard to teaching and learning anatomy. The study aimed to cross-validate the AEEMI, which was previously studied in a public medical school, and proposed a valid universal model of AEEMI across public and private medical schools in Malaysia.Methods: The initial 11-factor and 132-item AEEMI was distributed to 1,930 pre-clinical and clinical year medical students from 11 medical schools in Malaysia. The study examined the construct validity of the AEEMI using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The best-fit model of AEEMI was achieved using five factors and 26 items (ꭓ2 = 3300.71 (df = 1680), P < 0.001, ꭓ2/df = 1.965, RMSEA = 0.018, GFI = 0.929, CFI = 0.962, NFI = 0.927, TLI = 0.956) with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.621 to 0.927.Results: Findings of the cross-validation across institutions and phases of medical training indicated that the AEEMI measures nearly the same constructs as the previously validated version with several modifications to the item placement within each factor.Conclusions: These results confirmed that variability exists within factors of the anatomy education environment among institutions. Hence, with modifications to the internal structure, the proposed model of the AEEMI can be considered universally applicable in the Malaysian context and thus can be used as one of the tools for auditing and benchmarking the anatomy curriculum.

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Background The Anatomy Education Environment Measurement Inventory (AEEMI) evaluates the perception of medical students of educational climates with regard to teaching and learning anatomy. The study aimed to cross-validate the AEEMI, which was previously studied in a public medical school, and proposed a valid universal model of AEEMI across public and private medical schools in Malaysia. Methods The initial 11-factor and 132-item AEEMI was distributed to 1930 pre-clinical and clinical year medical students from 11 medical schools in Malaysia. The study examined the construct validity of the AEEMI using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Results The best-fit model of AEEMI was achieved using 5 factors and 26 items (χ 2 = 3300.71 (df = 1680), P < 0.001, χ 2/df = 1.965, Root Mean Square of Error Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.018, Goodness-of-fit Index (GFI) = 0.929, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.962, Normed Fit Index (NFI) = 0.927, Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.956) with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.621 to 0.927. Findings of the cross-validation across institutions and phases of medical training indicated that the AEEMI measures nearly the same constructs as the previously validated version with several modifications to the item placement within each factor. Conclusions These results confirmed that variability exists within factors of the anatomy education environment among institutions. Hence, with modifications to the internal structure, the proposed model of the AEEMI can be considered universally applicable in the Malaysian context and thus can be used as one of the tools for auditing and benchmarking the anatomy curriculum.

Histology, a branch of anatomy is a correlational science between structure of tissues and their functions. Knowledge of histology is emphasised for undergraduate medical students as a basic for clinical knowledge and research. To impart retainable and reproducible knowledge in histology, a new laboratory manual with images and clinical correlates was introduced to the Year I MBBS students in the Academic Session 2017/2018 during their general anatomy module. The objective structured practical examination marks between 101 students of Batches 2016/17 and 2017/18 were analysed. The difference in marks between both the batches were analysed using SPSS 20. Batch 2017/18 students who used the new lab manual scored better than the previous batch who used the old manual. Independent t-test was not statistically significant. The students who used the new manual fared better than their seniors. Since the difference was not statistically significant, it can be concluded that if existent, drawbacks in the lab manual should be improved and adequate usage of the manual by the students should be emphasised. Nevertheless, usage of the new lab manual shows that the students could understand the subject and score better with less study hours.

Students have a myriad of preferences of the various curricular elements especially teaching-learning methods, teaching aids and content. Taking radiological anatomy as a prototype, the responses from medical students in the clinical years regarding the rationale for preferences for the curricular elements were studied in a private university in Malaysia. The students’ responses to the research question were analysed qualitatively through thematic analysis. Analysis was conducted until no new themes emerged and data saturation was complete. The final themes were subjected to investigator triangulation. While searching answers for our research question of why students prefer certain curricular elements, the sub-themes that emerged were deep approach to learning, enabling transferability of knowledge to workplace, managing cognitive load and suiting learning styles. These sub-themes were categorised into two large themes namely student interaction with learning environment and relevancy of content to context. This prototype study sheds light on students preferred curricular elements. Curricular elements which employ effective student interaction with the learning environment and ensure relevancy to the context are highly sought. It could be concluded that active learning entailing studentcentred methods and clinically relevant content is most preferred by students. This prototype study provides potential findings that benefit other disciplines as well.