“There's no way that I'm going to rock up to a pub now with a pig heart”: Anatomy Outreach During COVID‐19

Abstract

Introduction & Objective Anatomy outreach programs are descriptively and anecdotally a prominent feature of the anatomy education community. However, the overarching phenomena of such outreach, and why so many anatomists contribute to its facilitation, has never been explored. Further, in light of the massive societal and educational changes as a result of the coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, understanding the perspectives of anatomy ‘outreachers’ is now more important than ever, if we are to continue to support these initiatives. Thus, this work sought to explore the phenomena of anatomy outreach, from the perspective of anatomist facilitators, and more specifically, explore views on the effects of COVID‐19 on this activity. Materials & Methods This ethics‐approved, qualitative study employed grounded theory (GT) as a methodology to understand the phenomena of anatomy outreach, from the perspective of anatomist facilitators. A component of the inquiry included participant views on the impact of COVID‐19 on anatomy‐related outreach. Purposive sampling was used to recruit anatomists with experience of facilitating anatomy‐specific outreach. Semi‐structured, virtual interviews were conducted, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Following in constructivist‐style GT, data were coded with constant comparison and concurrent data collection until theoretical sensitivity was reached. Analysis included cycles of initial, focused, and theoretical coding. This produced a conceptual model that considers COVID‐19 disruptions to anatomy outreach. Results Eighteen participants completed interviews, representing a range of educational levels and global locations. The pandemic affected nearly every aspect of anatomy outreach. Sub‐categories of coding for disruption included: near‐complete halt of anatomy outreach, concerns about general academic disruptions, and recognition of wider societal disruptions for the target populations. Being in educational “survival mode” led to outreach not being prioritized. Beyond disruptions, participants reflected on the sub‐category of ‘pivoting’ such activities to be conducted virtually, though many posited that this may result in the loss of the “outreach feel.” This included codes for loss of multimodal engagement and social elements with virtual pivoting. Lastly, anatomists shared reflections on how the pandemic highlighted the importance of anatomy outreach, and the increased ‘duty’ felt for anatomists to generate scientific and anatomical literacy. Conclusion Most anatomy outreach halted as a result of COVID‐19, and anatomists are divided on the possibilities of virtual pivoting, or their ability to sustain outreach work in the current climate. Yet, ‘outreachers’ believe the general public of the world could arguably benefit from better anatomical literacy now more than ever. Significance If anatomists are to continue to support outreach goals, there needs to be more generalizable, evidence‐based understanding of such activities. In the midst of a pandemic, it is especially important to un...

“A whole new perspective on how the body fits together”—An evaluation of a cadaver laboratory experience for high school students

“…Furthermore, these results demonstrate the value of in‐person, hands‐on anatomy outreach in providing participants with a memorable and meaningful educational experience, a controlled environment in which they can explore humanistic values and attitudes toward death and dying, and the opportunity to actively participate in one aspect of health professional education. As medical educators worldwide begin to consider how adjustments made to content delivery and clinical training due to Covid‐19, such as the reduction or suspension of in‐person lectures and discussions and the increased use of online technology (Lee et al, 2021), can or should persist beyond the end of the pandemic, the impact of in‐person anatomy outreach, which was mostly suspended during the pandemic (Dueñas et al, 2021), should not be overlooked.…”

“…Furthermore, these results demonstrate the value of in-person, hands-on anatomy outreach in providing participants with a memorable and meaningful educational experience, a controlled environment in which they can explore humanistic values and attitudes toward death and dying, and the opportunity to actively participate in one aspect of health professional education. As medical educators worldwide begin to consider how adjustments made to content delivery and clinical training due to Covid-19, such as the reduction or suspension of in-person lectures and discussions and the increased use of online technology(Lee et al, 2021), can or should persist beyond the end of the pandemic, the impact of in-person anatomy outreach, which was mostly suspended during the pandemic(Dueñas et al, 2021), should not be overlooked.Perceived increase in anatomy knowledgeStudents, who were all currently enrolled in anatomy and physiology, biology, human body systems, or similar courses, reported feeling more educated about human anatomy after attending the tour, supporting similar findings byWines (2019), which reported that attendees to gross anatomy laboratory-based outreach program perceived an increase in anatomy knowledge after their tour Zhang et al (2016). evaluated the anatomy and pathology knowledge of attendees to an anatomy laboratory-based workshop utilizing preand post-workshop multiple-choice examinations and reported an increase in anatomy knowledge after the workshop.…”