Determining baseline anatomy knowledge among professional allied health students

Abstract

Health professional students often struggle with anatomy coursework despite undergraduate coursework in anatomy. Educators must identify early on whether students may struggle in order to target remediation. The purpose of the study was to elucidate whether an assessment tool administered before the start of a professional anatomy course correlated with allied health students' course performance. Students over four years were given a quiz covering anatomy knowledge they were expected to know upon matriculation to their professional program. A supplemental data form was administered at the course's conclusion to identify prior anatomy experience and topics in which students felt deficient. Pre-quiz scores significantly correlated with examination performance throughout the course. Students reported feeling most deficient in neurobiology (54.9%) and anatomy terminology (39.1%). Videos were created to target these deficient knowledge areas; students who watched the videos did better in course assessments than those who did not. Most respondents (98.0%) recommended students take an undergraduate anatomy course prior to starting a health professional program. These results indicate that a quiz assessing anatomy knowledge among matriculating students may identify students with the potential to struggle in a professional anatomy course early on. Responses outlined areas in which students felt deficient, which allows educators to target topics early with intervention tools such as the review videos in this study. Finally, most respondents strongly recommended undergraduate coursework in anatomy prior to starting a professional health program, which outlines students' recognition that a solid foundation in anatomical knowledge is important to success in professional programs.

Personalized strategies for academic success in learning anatomy: Exploring metacognitive and technological adaptation in medical students

“…Students feel more stimulated and engaged in anatomy when they visualize how this knowledge directly translates into medical practice. It allows for more effective diagnosis and treatment of diseases (Fagalde & McNulty, 2023; Smith et al, 2022; Triepels et al, 2018). The learning process in anatomy is the first opportunity for medical students to establish contact with patients.…”

Pre‐ and post‐examination reflections of first‐year medical students in an integrated medical anatomy course

“…Many previous studies have sought to identify possible predictors for how medical students will perform academically in medical school. These factors include premedical background (Hortsch & Mangrulkar, 2015; Fagalde & McNulty, 2023), study strategies (McNulty et al, 2012; West et al, 2014), self‐regulated learning skills (Barbosa et al, 2016), performance on examinations, unprofessional behavior, and health problems (Chou et al, 2019). However, the evidence is still somewhat unclear as to how these factors can be used to reliably predict future academic performance.…”