“Preparing them for the profession”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of anatomy educators coping with complexity in the United Kingdom curriculum

Abstract

Efforts to integrate the basic sciences into the ever‐changing curriculum are a trending area of research in health professions education. Low‐stakes, high‐frequency assessment methods such as the progress test are now widely implemented in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland as a means of furthering curricular integration toward contemporary goals of competency and professional identity formation. The anatomy educator's experience vis‐à‐vis these curricular changes is not well understood. This study aimed to explore how anatomy educators make sense of the shifting demands of their role. The interviews were semi‐structured, particularly concerned with the phenomenon of teachers adapting to the complexity of their learning environment. The study used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to focus on the lived experiences of participants coping with the phenomena in question: how do anatomy educators make sense of the learning environment in the United Kingdom? Interviews were transcribed verbatim and interpreted inductively, identifying four key themes: confidence through connectedness, variations in appraisals of curricular integration, managing expectations to perform in paradoxical situations, and the emergence of innovative teaching. Results point to the learning environment as a complex system and highlight the importance of feeling support from and connection to colleagues, enabling individual educators to develop confidence, meet the top‐down demands of changing curricula, and experience personal identity development and uncertainty tolerance within their role. This IPA study offers insight into the lived experiences of anatomy educators whose experiential interpretations of a complex and changing curriculum can uniquely inform stakeholders in health professions education.

Learning machines or the key to care: a qualitative study exploring the impact of the hidden curriculum on medical students’ longitudinal experiences in primary care

“…14 It is formally defined as 'a set of influences acting on students as a result of their presence within a specific organisation', 15 and can have neutral, 16 negative 17 and positive impacts. 18 It involves messages conveyed to students as a result of mismatch between what an organisation says, and what an organisation does in practice. 19 UK LICs are often based in primary care and often, a hidden curriculum exists that marginalises the importance and impact of primary care contributions and careers.…”

“…The hidden curriculum sits outside of what is formally taught and impacts knowledge and behaviour (such as peer groupings, how role models behave and what is said vs what is done)13 it plays a critical role in whether educational innovations succeed 14. It is formally defined as ‘a set of influences acting on students as a result of their presence within a specific organisation’,15 and can have neutral,16 negative17 and positive impacts 18. It involves messages conveyed to students as a result of mismatch between what an organisation says, and what an organisation does in practice 19…”

“Pet things” and “penny drops”—Factors influencing clinicians' teaching of pelvic anatomy

“…Although there is great complexity and variation in the meaning of “integrated curriculum” (Kirkness et al, 2022), the idea of the integrated curriculum is generally supported in the literature (Harden, 1999; Evans & Watt, 2005; Fitzgerald et al, 2008; Bergman et al, 2011; Estai & Bunt, 2016) and is recommended by the Australian Medical Council (AMC, 2012). However, few studies detail how anatomy is taught in the clinical environment despite its importance in curriculum integration (Evans & Watt, 2005; Smith et al, 2019).…”