Learning Anatomy: Can Dissection and Peer-Mediated Teaching Offer Added Benefits over Prosection Alone? (original) (raw)
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Improving gross anatomy learning using reciprocal peer teaching
BMC Medical Education, 2016
Background: The use of cadavers in human anatomy teaching requires adequate number of anatomy instructors who can provide close supervision of the students. Most medical schools are facing challenges of lack of trained individuals to teach anatomy. Innovative techniques are therefore needed to impart adequate and relevant anatomical knowledge and skills. This study was conducted in order to evaluate the traditional teaching method and reciprocal peer teaching (RPT) method during anatomy dissection.
Reciprocal peer teaching: Students teaching students in the gross anatomy laboratory
Clinical Anatomy, 2005
Three common instructional strategies used to teach gross anatomy are lecture, discovery or inquiry-based learning, and cooperative learning. One form of cooperative learning, called reciprocal peer teaching (RPT), illustrates circumstances where students alternate roles as teacher and student. By assuming the responsibility of teaching their peers, students not only improve their understanding of course content, but also develop communication skills, teamwork, leadership, confidence and respect for peers that are vital to developing professionalism early in their medical careers. Traditionally in our Anatomy department, students dissect the entire body using a standard dissection manual. More nontraditionally, however, we have increased cooperative learning in the dissection laboratory by involving students in a series of supplementary RPT activities. During these exercises, 10% of the class practiced their demonstration with course instructors until the students felt prepared to demonstrate the exercise to their classmates. We designed one peer demonstration emphasizing three to six teaching objectives for most of the 40 dissection units. This resulted in a compendium of peer demonstrations for implementation throughout the course. The multitude of diverse exercises permitted each student many opportunities to teach their peers. A debriefing questionnaire was administered at the end of the course demonstrating that 100% of students agreed the RPT experience increased their understanding of the topics they taught and 97% agreed it increased their retention of information they taught to their peers. In addition, 92% agreed that RPT improved their communication skills, which can be applied beyond anatomy to their careers as future physicians.
2013
Background: Teaching is an important skill for future residency training and practice; Teaching and learning of a subject becomes effective when the teacher and student know the purpose of teaching and learning. Active learning is based on self-directed and autonomous teaching methods, whereas passive learning is grounded in instructor taught lectures. In the present study we have trained the students to teach their colleagues on the dissection table simultaneously while doing dissection. A debriefing questionnaire was administered at the end of the peer teaching program. Aims And Objectives: 1. To enhance the preparation of students for the future challenges of our dynamic medical communities by Peer teaching in medical curriculums. 2. To prepare medical students for their role as a teacher by implementing peer teaching programs, 3. To achieve the essential styles of teaching, particularly how to speak to your audience, maintain their attention, provide guided facilitation of discussions, assess your audience's understanding and trouble shoot basic student/teacher incompatibilities would benefit the dynamics of the peer teacher-learner interaction, and 4. To assess the effectiveness of Peer-teaching on medical students (Peer-teachers) at G.
Students as anatomy near-peer teachers: a double-edged sword for an ancient skill
BMC Medical Education
Background: A near-peer instructors (NPI) program was designed for 1st year medical students who successfully finished the Anatomy course, in order to develop their didactic ability and teaching skills, mostly for cadaver dissection. Methods: Graduates of the training program were administered a voluntary survey at the end of the program, annually. Best graduates of the training program were offered a NPI position in the next academic year. They were evaluated by the first-year students, at the end of the Anatomy block. Results: In a debriefing questionnaire at the end of the NPI training, on the five-point Likert scale (1 = lowest to 5 = highest), the overall rating ranged from 3.63 in 2013 to 3.71 in 2015. Learning prosection and anatomy demonstration skills scored on average from 4.30 to 4.36, respectively. The NPIs were then evaluated by first-year students at the end of the next year's Anatomy block. On the Likert scale, the average score of NPIs ranged from 4.10 in 2014 to 4.75 in 2016, on the par with the general satisfaction score for the professional preclinical teachers during the same period (which ranged from 3.80 to 4.26). Conclusions: It is suggested that students as near-peer instructors can make a valuable contribution to the teaching faculty, especially in a new medical school.
The dissection course – necessary and indispensable for teaching anatomy to medical students
Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger, 2008
Anatomy is a major basic subject in medicine and related biomedical sciences. A central tool most universities use for teaching anatomy is the ''dissection course'', in which medical students learn the basic constructional principles of the human body by dissecting a cadaver. In recent years, the relevance and value of the dissection laboratory have been under discussion at different universities due to high costs and problems of shortness in time in some medical curricula. Indeed, during the last 10 years, several universities in the US and the UK have abandoned dissection and have moved from a cadaver-oriented to a cadaverless anatomy. This development results in a fundamental discussion on the role of the ''dissection course'' in the medical curriculum, ultimately raising the question as to whether we should continue teaching anatomy by dissection. This article presents nine arguments for the dissection course as a central tool for teaching macroscopic anatomy and is an attestment to the continuation of the use of cadaver material in anatomical laboratories within the auspices of scholastic and university order for the benefit of future physicians with due respect and honour guaranteed for every donor.
Perception of peer teaching on learning anatomy: a qualitative study
JOURNAL OF PAKISTAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 2020
The aim of this study was to identify the effectiveness of peer-assisted learning while giving presentation on assigned anatomy topics in class by medical students for enhancement of their learning and communication skills. Sixty top performing students were selected for the study. They were given assigned topics related to anatomy to be presented in the class after taking their consent. The duration of the study was 32 weeks. At the completion of the projects by the students, each of them was interviewed for three to five minutes; the questions were very precise and few in number and were then analysed. Focus group discussions were conducted from the rest of the class who were the audience and enjoyed the activity. The study showed that by conducting such an activity among medical students their knowledge about the subject, communication and teaching skills and confidence are enhanced. It is a fun activity for them and can be added in the routine timetable for its beneficial outcomes.
Background: Near-peer teaching involves senior students tutoring juniors and is now widely incorporated into medical and dental curriculum. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of near-peer teaching in low performers in Anatomy and also to evaluate the near-peer teacher perceptions towards this programme in their learning process. Materials and Methods: Semester 6 students who pursue Otolaryngology, Ophthalmology and Community Medicine were taken as near-peer teachers. Those students who have not passed the previous Anatomy university examination and students of semester 2 who scored less than 35% in Anatomy internal assessment conducted in the period of August 2014 to March 2015 were considered as low performers in Anatomy. 15 near-peer teachers and 10 tutees took part in the study. Effectiveness of near-peer teaching was assessed through the post-test and feedback from low performers about the near-peer teaching. Perception towards this programme in their lea...
The Practice of Dissection as Teaching Methodology in Anatomy Applied to Medical Education
International Journal of Morphology, 2010
In 2003, the UFG Faculty of Medicine, to revamp its educational project, reduced the hourly load of some subjects, among them those of anatomy, which in general leads to eliminate the practice of dissection. This practice is essential for the basic training of students, being then used in other sciences such as pathology. The objective of this study was to compare and link data between groups that made or did not make dissection after the anatomy course. Questionnaires were issued to 86 medical students from the UFG Faculty of Medicine, and from these, 10 made dissection and 76 did not. Analyzing the answers, it was found that both groups recognize the importance of this practice for the knowledge of the anatomy discipline and for future disciplines or their profession. It follows that dissection could help in the consolidation of post-modern paradigm in medical education since it improves the attention and learning of students.
Development of a didactical training concept for peer tutors in gross anatomy
Anatomical Sciences Education, 2017
Even though peer tutors are often used in gross anatomy courses, research in the field is rather a subject of the last two decades. This is especially true about the didactical challenges these types of peer tutors experience during their tutorials and about how they are prepared for the task. The aim of the presented study was to learn about the training needs of the tutors, and to subsequently design, implement, and evaluate a didactical training concept. A qualitative design was chosen to examine how tutors can best be prepared for tutorials of gross anatomy. To do so, focus group interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed and grouped into various concepts, using semi-structured interview questions as guidance. It was found that peer tutors are in need of training in the following aspects: Dealing with students who are experiencing difficulties during or as a result of dissection, dealing with group dynamics, that is, at the dissection table, keeping students motivated, time management, and staying confident as a tutor. In order to be regarded as useful and relevant in the eyes of tutors, a preparatory training course should include all these aspects in addition to general didactical training elements. Training needs of peer tutors of gross anatomy go beyond the content of standardized didactical curricula; therefore, tutors should be prepared with a curriculum that is specifically geared toward the many challenges associated with teaching gross anatomy to first year medical students which are already so well documented in the research literature. Anat Sci
Should we continue teaching anatomy by dissection when …?
The Anatomical Record Part B: The New Anatomist, 2006
The central role that human dissection has long held in clinical education is being reevaluated in many institutions. Despite the impression that many institutions are abandoning dissection, very few have and most of those have reinstated dissection within a few years. What are the inherent qualities that lead institutions back to dissection? In our efforts to redesign a shortened dissection course, our consultations with a broad range of clinicians lead us to understand how the rhythms of clinical practice are modeled and developed in the small-group setting of the dissection laboratory. Following further consultation with colleagues who have experimented with different models of anatomy instruction, we discuss three themes in support of dissection. First, problem-solving in the dissection laboratory develops the habits-of-mind of clinical practice. Second, relating dissection to imaging modalities develops the spatial reasoning skills needed to understand computer simulations, interpret imaging data, and interact with surgeons, radiologists, and patients. Third, the human face of dissection fosters self-reflection and integration of the cognitive and affective skills required for medical practice. Through group process, the collaborative effort of dissection teams develops essential of attributes of clinical professionalism. Anat Rec (Part B: New Anat) 289B: 215-218, 2006.