Perceived Benefits of Anatomy Coursework Prior to Medical and Dental School

Robertson, Ellen; Thompson, Kenneth L.; Notebaert, Andrew

doi:10.1002/ase.1882

Cited by 17 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The results of this study did not find a correlation between number of semesters of anatomy and academic performance in the Analysis of Human Movement course. Similarly, Robertson et al (2019) reported no statistically significant relationships between number of prior anatomy courses and final course grade among medical and dental students. Kondrashov et al (2017) found that students who had taken anatomy prior to medical school matriculation compared to those who did not had no statistically significant differences between medical school gross anatomy course grade and medical school grade point average.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Students who experience several semesters of anatomy are receiving repetitive exposure to anatomy material. Retention of anatomy knowledge may improve with repeated exposure to material (Feigin et al, 2007;Kooloos et al, 2020;Robertson et al, 2019). Thus, students who complete several semesters of anatomy may have improved anatomy knowledge retention, which may improve performance in graduate level anatomy coursework.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring Anatomy Coursework and Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Students: A Survey Study

Giles

Conrad

Lunsford

et al. 2021

JOTE

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Occupational therapy practitioners utilize their knowledge of human anatomy to understand underlying anatomical dysfunction and how it impacts occupational performance. However, anatomy is not a required standalone course within occupational therapy curricula. This may leave students at a disadvantage throughout occupational therapy programs, fieldwork, and as practitioners. The primary purpose of this study was to explore graduate level occupational therapy students' previous anatomy undergraduate coursework, student perceived preparedness of anatomical knowledge, and their performance in a mandatory Analysis of Human Movement course within our university's occupational therapy graduate programs. The secondary purpose was to determine student interest in a standalone online anatomy review course if one were offered at the start of program matriculation. Participants (n=87) completed a 14-item survey regarding demographics, prior anatomy coursework, perceived preparedness, and academic performance in a mandatory Analysis of Human Movement course. Descriptive statistics and a Pearson's correlation were conducted. Data analysis revealed statistically significant correlations among several variables including perceived preparedness, and whether students felt they would have benefited from and participated in an online anatomy review course. No statistically significant correlations were found between academic performance and any other variable. Data analysis also revealed that regardless of prior anatomy coursework, perceived preparedness, and academic performance almost all participants (n=80; 92%) indicated that they would have benefited from and participated in an online anatomy review course. Though continued research is warranted, occupational therapy programs may consider the implementation of a standalone anatomy course to promote students' academic and clinical success.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Anatomy Coursework and Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Students: A Survey Study

Giles

Conrad

Lunsford

et al. 2021

JOTE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This study begins to quantify the importance of a solid foundation of There have been similar studies evaluating health professional students' foundational knowledge and impact on performance in professional curricula (Robertson et al, 2019;Robertson et al, 2020;Giles et al, 2021). One such study found that an examination held within the first two weeks of a professional medical curriculum was predictive of student success in the rest of the professional curriculum (Winston et al, 2014); however, this assessment included not only anatomy, but physiology and biochemistry content as well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current study is specifically focused on evaluating foundational knowledge in anatomy as it is commonly the source of stress and anxiety for students (Evans & Fitzgibbons, 1992;Nnodim, 1996;Bati et al, 2013;Laakkonen & Nevgi, 2014;Robertson et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining baseline anatomy knowledge among professional allied health students

Fagalde

McNulty

2022

Anatomical Sciences Ed

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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.

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“…Students' prior experiences with anatomy were not collected. While anatomy is not a prerequisite for most medical programs in the United States (AAMC, 2022), students prior experience has been shown to have an impact on stress levels in their medical career (Robertson et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of curricular reform on gross anatomy laboratory examination performance: An institutional analysis

Taylor

Loder

Herr

et al. 2022

Anatomical Sciences Ed

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Many medical schools have undergone curricular reform recently. With these reforms, time spent teaching anatomy has been reduced, and there has been a general shift to a pass/fail grading system. At Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM), a new curriculum was implemented in fall 2016. The year‐long human gross anatomy course taught in 2015 was condensed into an integrated, semester‐long course starting in 2016. Additionally, the grading scale shifted to pass/fail. This study examined first‐year medical student performance on anatomy practical laboratory examinations—specifically, among lower‐order (pure identification) questions and higher‐order (function, innervation) questions. Participants included medical students from a pre‐curricular reform cohort (year 2015, 34 students) and two post‐curricular reform cohorts (years 2016, 30 students and 2017, 33 students). A Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA test was used to determine differences of these questions among the three cohorts. Additionally, 40 of the same lower‐order questions that were asked on gross anatomy laboratory examinations from medical student cohort year 2015 and year 2016 were further analyzed using an independent samples t‐test. Results demonstrated that the pre‐curricular reform cohort scored significantly higher on both lower‐order (median = 81, p < 0.001) and higher‐order questions (median = 82.5, p < 0.05) than both post‐curricular reform cohorts. Additionally, when reviewing the selected 40 similar questions, it was found that the pre‐curricular reform cohort averaged significantly higher (82.1 ± 16.1) than the post‐curricular reform cohort from 2016 (69.3 ± 21.8, p = 0.004). This study provides evidence about the impact of curricular reform on medical student anatomical knowledge.

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Perceived Benefits of Anatomy Coursework Prior to Medical and Dental School

Cited by 17 publications

References 48 publications

Exploring Anatomy Coursework and Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Students: A Survey Study

Exploring Anatomy Coursework and Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Students: A Survey Study

Determining baseline anatomy knowledge among professional allied health students

The effect of curricular reform on gross anatomy laboratory examination performance: An institutional analysis

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