Near-Peer Teaching (NPT) is increasingly becoming an integral part of the medical curriculum. When considered alongside the increasing popularity of interdisciplinary education, it seems appropriate to explore NPT within an interdisciplinary context. In these observations, 3rd-year medical students taught 2nd-year psychology students neuroanatomy. The session was evaluated using three objective and subjective assays. A knowledge assessment test showed significant improvement after teaching, and there were significant improvements on self-perceived knowledge/attitudes towards neuroanatomy, as well as positive feedback on the use of NPT. These observations evidence the successful use of Interdisciplinary Near-Peer Teaching (INPT) within a neuroanatomical curriculum.

Undergraduates often perceive neuroscience to be a challenging discipline. As the scope of neuroscience continues to expand, it is important to provide undergraduates with sufficient opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills with the aim of encouraging the future generation of basic and clinical neuroscientists. Through our experience of developing the National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition (NUNC), we have accrued an extensive volume of performance data and subjective insight into the delivery of undergraduate neuroanatomy education, which has the potential to inform how to better engage students within this field. More broadly, our group has implemented a technology enhanced learning platform alongside a peer-assisted teaching program. These achieve the dual purpose of compensating for the reduction in dedicated neuroanatomy teaching hours and encouraging undergraduates to develop an interest in the neurosciences. Here, we consider how improving the learning experience at an undergraduate level encourages further engagement in the neurosciences and the importance of this within the wider neuroscience community.

Background Neurophobia has been identified as a potential barrier to adequate knowledge of neurology in the medical community, and therefore to patient safety. There is a drive to identify the source of neurophobia, in the hope of tackling it. Comparing the learning motivations of standard medical students with those who enjoy neuroanatomy may be a way of doing this. Methods The science motivation questionnaire (SMQ) was modified for neuroanatomy. It was distributed to three cohorts of second year medical students and students attending the extracurricular National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition (NUNC). Cohen’s D test for effect size was used to compare standard medical students and those attending the NUNC. Results Five hundred ninety-seven questionnaires were completed by second year students, and 320 by NUNC attendees. The differences in motivation to learn neuroanatomy between the 2 groups mainly fell into themes of career motivation, personal relevance, intrinsic motivation and assessment anxiety. Conclusion This study has demonstrated the use of the SMQ in neuroanatomy, and found differences in motivators to learn neuroanatomy between self-selecting “neurophiles” and standard medical students, mainly relating to intrinsic motivation and its role in their lives. More research is needed to further explore these differences and how they might apply to interventions in medical school curricula.

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