BackgroundThe establishment of the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) is one of the pillars of the European Space of Higher Education. This way of accounting for the time spent in training has two essential parts, classroom teaching (work with the professor) and distance learning (work without the professor, whether in an individual or collective way). Much has been published on the distance learning part, but less on the classroom teaching section. In this work, the authors investigate didactic strategies and associated aids for distance learning work in a concept based on flipped classroom where transmitting information is carried out with aids that the professor prepares, so that the student works in an independent way before the classes, thus being able to dedicate the classroom teaching time to more complex learning and being able to count on the professor’s help.MethodsThree teaching aids applied to the study of anatomy have been compared: Notes with images, videos, and augmented reality. Four dimensions have been compared: the time spent, the acquired learnings, the metacognitive perception, and the prospects of the use of augmented reality for study.ResultsThe results show the effectiveness, in all aspects, of augmented reality when compared with the rest of aids.The questionnaire assessed the acquired knowledge through a course exam, where 5.60 points were obtained for the notes group, 6.54 for the video group, and 7.19 for the augmented reality group. That is 0.94 more points for the video group compared with the notes and 1.59 more points for the augmented reality group compared with the notes group.ConclusionsThis research demonstrates that, although technology has not been sufficiently developed for education, it is expected that it can be improved in both the autonomous work of the student and the academic training of health science students and that we can teach how to learn. Moreover, one can see how the grades of the students who studied with augmented reality are more grouped and that there is less dispersion in the marks compared with other materials.

Background: Precision in minimal-incision surgery allows surgeons to achieve accurate osteotomies and patients to avoid risks. Herein, a surgical guide for the foot is designed and validated in vitro using resin foot models for hallux abducto valgus surgery. Methods: Three individuals with different experience levels (an undergraduate student, a master's student, and an experienced podiatric physician) performed an Akin osteotomy, a Reverdin osteotomy, and a basal osteotomy of the first metatarsal. Results: The average measurements of each osteotomy and the angle of the basal osteotomy do not reveal significant differences among the three surgeons. A shorter deviation from the planned measurements has been observed in variables corresponding to the Akin osteotomy (the maximum deviation in the measurement of the distance from the proximal medial end of the Akin osteotomy to the first metatarsophalangeal joint interline was 1.67 mm, and the maximum deviation from the proximal lateral end of the Akin osteotomy to the first metatarsophalangeal joint interline was 1.00 mm). As for the Reverdin osteotomies, the maximum deviations in the measurement of the distance from the proximal medial end of the osteotomy to the first metatarsophalangeal joint interline were 3.60 and 3.53 mm in the expert and undergraduate surgeons, respectively. All of the osteotomies were precise among the groups, reducing the learning curve to the maximum. Conclusions: The three-dimensional–printed prototype has been proven effective in guiding surgeons to perform different types of osteotomies. Minimal deviations from the predefined osteotomies were found among the three surgeons.

Introduction: The cites received by a paper is the most common method used to determine its impact in a particular scientific field. Plantar fasciitis is one of the five most common skeletal muscle injuries in runners. With a multi-factor aetiology, this degenerative process of the plantar fascia occurs when it is repetitively exposed to tensile overload. This research aims to analyse the characteristics of the 25 most-cited papers on plantar fasciitis in runners. Methods: To find the top-cited articles, the Web of Science database was used. Data was analysed regarding the number of citations, year of publication, publishing journal, research area, authorship, institution, country, and bibliographic references. Results: The 25 most cited articles were published between 1983 and 2009. The 2000s is the most productive decade, paper-wise. 84 % of these articles are from the US. They were published in 11 journals. On average, they had 78.5 citations per article. The main research areas in which the papers were developed were Orthopaedics and Sport Science. Conclusion: The results of this research facilitate the identification of the most relevant research papers contributing to the development of scientific knowledge in the aetiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of plantar fasciitis in runners, and help to determine how it has evolved over time. It is also a way of acknowledging authors and institutions with outstanding contributions and leadership in this research area, as well as their most influential authors.