Teaching anatomy without cadavers

McLachlan, John C.; Bligh, John; Bradley, P. A.; Searle, Judith

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2923.2004.01795.x

Cited by 537 publications

(504 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Our study also found that reflection about death and dying, as well as feelings of empathy toward the body donor, reduced over time. The latter finding supports the opinion, as has been expressed by McLachlan et al (2004), that dissection in the gross anatomy course is not suitable for encouraging an early development of empathy. Our study results suggest that students' perceptions of gaining professional competencies may influence their evaluation of course value, over and above the acquisition of anatomical knowledge.…”

Section: Professional Competenciessupporting

confidence: 79%

“…In the recent past, some American universities have abstained from dissection (Collins et al, 1994). Similar trends can be observed in Europe (McLachlan et al, 2004) and are currently being discussed at German universities. To continue or to abolish laboratory dissection as part of the medical curriculum is a major decision whose taking requires an understanding of the course's direct and hidden teaching objectives as well as the influence of dissection on achieving superordinated curricular goals.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…To continue or to abolish laboratory dissection as part of the medical curriculum is a major decision whose taking requires an understanding of the course's direct and hidden teaching objectives as well as the influence of dissection on achieving superordinated curricular goals. The different opinions on this topic have been clearly summarized by McLachlan et al (2004), who ultimately concluded that more research is required in this area because there remains a dearth of evidence specifically regarding the educational impact of learning through dissection or learning without cadavers. Older (2004) has described the dissection experience as highly valuable, even indispensable, because it facilitates the teaching of manual skills, provides a hands-on experience that compliments cognitive understanding, forces realization of individual variability, promotes teamwork, and leads to self-reflection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The gross anatomy course: An analysis of its importance

Böckers

Jerg-Bretzke

Lamp

et al. 2010

Anatomical Sciences Ed

177

183

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The gross anatomy dissection course is a cost-intensive piece of undergraduate medical education that students and professionals alike describe as very important within the overall medical curriculum. We sought to understand more explicitly students' valuation of gross anatomy as an ''important'' course and so developed a quantitative longitudinal questionnaire. Medical students (n 5 124) enrolled in the winter term 2006/2007 gross anatomy course at the Ulm University Faculty of Medicine were surveyed anonymously prior to, in the middle of, and at the end of the dissection course. Subgroups of students expressing rising or falling opinions of course value were identified and correlated with student opinions about the course's ability to convey professional competencies. Fivepoint Likert scales were used for each survey item, which included such standardized instruments as the NeoFFI, BSI, and FBM. The study confirmed that medical students believe dissection to be valuable. Students indicated that participation in the course facilitated acquisition of anatomy knowledge as well as skills related to teamwork, coping with stress, and, to a lesser extent, time management. Students also noted that they developed less empathy than expected beforehand. Significant subgroup differences were observed relative to the competencies of teamwork, stress coping strategies, and empathy, as well as in students' stress levels associated with having to take a dissection course. Our study builds on previous work that has shown dissection courses help students develop professional competencies. The increase in professionalism might be a reason for the generally high value students place on the gross anatomy dissection course, Anat Sci Educ 3:3-11, 2010.

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Section: Professional Competenciessupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The gross anatomy course: An analysis of its importance

Böckers

Jerg-Bretzke

Lamp

et al. 2010

Anatomical Sciences Ed

177

183

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These challenges have been faced with varying success by a number of medical schools that experimented with the design of their anatomy course . One general approach has been to use the radiographic, medical, and surgical applications of anatomy to guide the structure and content of the course (McLachlan et al, 2004;Drake, 2007;Haubert et al, 2009). Examination of the efficacy of these approaches has been limited to preliminary studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative anatomy course

Rizzolo

Rando

O’Brien

et al. 2010

Anatomical Sciences Ed

100

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Starting in 2004, a medical school gross anatomy course faced with a 30% cut in hours went through an extensive redesign, which transformed a traditional dissection course into a course with a clinical focus, learning societies, and extensive on-line learning support. Built into the redesign process was an extensive and ongoing assessment process, which included student focus groups, faculty development, surveys, and examinations. These assessments were used formatively, to enhance the course from year to year, and summatively, to determine how well the course was meeting the new learning objectives. The assessments from focus groups and faculty development prompted changes in support structures provided to students and the training and preparation of faculty. Survey results showed that, after student satisfaction declined the first year, satisfaction increased steadily through the fourth iteration as the course gained acceptance by students and faculty alike. There was a corresponding increase in the performance of students on course examinations. An additional examination given to students one and a half and three years after their anatomy course ended demonstrated the redesigned course's long-term effectiveness for retaining anatomical knowledge and applying it to clinical cases. Compared to students who took the original course, students who took the shorter, more clinical course performed as well, or better, on each section of the examination. We attribute these positive results to the innovative course design and to the changes made based on our formative assessment program. Anat Sci Educ 3: 109-120, 2010.

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“…The value of dissection classes as a teaching format lies in the fact that it provides a 3D view on human anatomy including tactile learning experiences. It enables elaboration of knowledge already acquired in lectures and study books and it provides an overall perspective of anatomical structures and their mutual relations in a whole organism [7]. The cadaver-based learning has seen decline due to practical and cost issues (see Figure 2).…”

Section: Traditional Methodologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative Technologies for Medical Education

Fallavollita¹

2017

Human Anatomy - Reviews and Medical Advances

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This chapter aims to assess the current practices of anatomy education technology and provides future directions for medical education. It begins by presenting a historical synopsis of the current paradigms for anatomy learning followed by listing their limitations. Then, it focuses on several innovative educational technologies, which have been introduced over the past years to enhance the learning. These include E-learning, mobile apps, and mixed reality. The chapter concludes by highlighting future directions and addressing the barriers to fully integrating the technologies in the medical curriculum. As new technologies continue to arise, this process-oriented understanding and outcome-based expectations of educational technology should be embraced. With this view, educational technology should be valued in terms of how well the technological process informs and facilitates learning, and the acquisition and maintenance of clinical expertise.

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Teaching anatomy without cadavers

Cited by 537 publications

References 39 publications

The gross anatomy course: An analysis of its importance

The gross anatomy course: An analysis of its importance

Design, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative anatomy course

Innovative Technologies for Medical Education

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