Medical students' learning of anatomy: memorisation, understanding and visualisation

Pandey, Priti; Zimitat, Craig

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02643.x

Cited by 205 publications

(247 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…None of the students in this study indicated that they had memorised names and structures as evident in a study by Pandey & Zimitat (2007). These authors suggested that students often learn anatomy by adopting more than two approaches, such as using a combination of visual stimulation, understanding and/or memorisation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Learning Anatomy Through Dissection: Perceptions of a Diverse Medical Student Cohort

Wyk

Rennie

2015

Int. J. Morphol.

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SUMMARY:The debate on how best to teach anatomy and the central role of cadaveric dissections in medical training remains topical even today. Despite the use of a variety of teaching methodologies e.g. prosected specimens, plastinated specimens, cadaveric dissection and computer-assisted learning, the amount of time dedicated to a full body human dissection programme, its clinical relevance and whether it promotes deeper learning has become a bone of contention in problem-based learning context. The implementation of student centred, PBL curricula means that students' learning is autonomous, and studies suggest the link between students' approaches to learning with their perceptions of their learning environment. Therefore, this study explored the perceptions of an educationally diverse medical student cohort in a 5 year problem-based learning programme who learned anatomy through the dissection method, elaborating on the value of this subject to their medical studies. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected and thematically analysed. One hundred students of the MBChB2 cohort (44%) completed the questionnaire. The majority of the respondents (70%) reported a positive experience during anatomical dissection in terms of visual and clinical application whilst gaining anatomy understanding and skill. Students with prior educational qualifications (mature) and first time school leavers voiced similar complaints. Student responses differed qualitatively on how they benefitted from the dissection. This study confirms that dissection remains an effective method for basic anatomy teaching even in PBL contexts. It concludes with strategies to enhance the learning experiences of educationally diverse students.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Learning Anatomy Through Dissection: Perceptions of a Diverse Medical Student Cohort

Wyk

Rennie

2015

Int. J. Morphol.

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“…Pandey and Zimitat showed a significant positive correlation between DA and achieving a higher quality learning of Anatomy. This was not observed for SA alone (Pandey and Zimitat, 2007). Larsen et al (2008) reviewed the evidence for testenhanced learning in cognitive psychology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Students learning Anatomy are required to spend considerable time learning a large number of body structures together and the relationships with other structures of the body. Anatomy may be one discipline where distinctions between deep and surface learning strategies are blurred (Pandey and Zimitat, 2007). Students who successfully learn Anatomy employ both superficial (SA) and deep approaches (DA) to learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment drives learning: An unavoidable truth?

Wormald

Schoeman

Somasunderam

et al. 2009

Anatomical Sciences Ed

230

148

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The debate around which factors drive medical students' learning is ongoing and controversial. What is the influence of an assessment's weighting on the motivation of students to study the particular subject? One medical school in London is in a unique position to investigate this question. At our institution, the weighting of Anatomy within the overall scheme of assessment has changed twice in recent years, a trend of increased weighting. This enabled a comparative investigation into the effect these changes have had on the students' motivation to learn Anatomy. A five‐point Likert‐scale questionnaire survey was used to evaluate students. A section within a broad survey of Anatomy teaching and learning at our institution was dedicated to the evaluation of the amount of weighting Anatomy received within the assessment structure and the effect this had on students' motivation toward learning the subject. Increasing Anatomy's weighting within the scheme of assessment produced a dramatic increasing trend toward students' motivation to learn Anatomy. The weighting of Anatomy has a profound effect on students' motivation to learn it. Although multifactorial and complex in nature, medical students' self‐reported drive to study a subject is directly influenced by the weighting of the subject in the overall scheme of assessment. Anat Sci Educ 2:199–204, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.

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“…Subsequent studies that additionally involved Virtual Reality (VR) and direct manipulation interfaces have demonstrated a positive impact in shortening the learning curve in medical training [3,4,5,6]. A fusion of CT and VR has also been used in clinical applications where interventional radiologists utilised this combinatory approach for performing percutaneous controlled radiofrequency trigeminal rhizotomy (RFTR) assisted by a VR imaging technique for idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgia [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Approach to CT Scans’ Interpretation via Incorporation into a VR Human Model

Sakellariou

Charissis

Ward

et al. 2009

Digital Human Modeling

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Abstract. This paper presents a novel approach for interpretation of Computerised-Tomography (CT) scans. The proposed system entails an automated transfer of selected CT scans onto a default Virtual Reality human model. Contemporary training requirements often are proven to be time-consuming for the clinical facilities which have to split unevenly their operational time between radiological examinations and the Radiologists' training. Adhering to the contemporary training requirements we employed a plethora of VR and HumanComputer Interaction techniques in order to enable the trainees to familiarise themselves with the interpretation of such data and their actual, spatial correlation inside the human body. Overall the paper presents the challenges involved in the development of this method and examines the potential as well the drawbacks for deployment of such system in large scale teaching audience. Finally the paper discusses the results of an initial user-trial, which involved twelve trainee doctors, and offers a tentative plan of future work which aspires to customise the software for different learning levels.

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Medical students' learning of anatomy: memorisation, understanding and visualisation

Cited by 205 publications

References 27 publications

Learning Anatomy Through Dissection: Perceptions of a Diverse Medical Student Cohort

Learning Anatomy Through Dissection: Perceptions of a Diverse Medical Student Cohort

Assessment drives learning: An unavoidable truth?

A Novel Approach to CT Scans’ Interpretation via Incorporation into a VR Human Model

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