A paradigm shift from teaching to learning gross anatomy: meta-analysis of implications for instructional methods

Abstract

Anatomy teaching in terms of content and methodology has undergone major changes in the recent times due to time constraints, scarcity of cadavers, rapid advances in information technology, and changes in the demands of the medical profession. Moreover, there has been a major paradigm shift in medical education from passive, didactic, and teacher-centered approach to active, clinical-based, and student-centered approach. The debate on how to teach anatomy in the most effective way continues, and there is not yet a workable solution to integrate the two lines of thought (teacher-centered/student-centered) that can resolve the dispute between the two approaches. The present article therefore meta-analyses the role and effectiveness of various instructional modalities in teaching and learning anatomy in the context of the shifting paradigm from teaching to learning. The available literature on the use of various instructional strategies employed for teaching-learning anatomy suggests that the challenge should not be to determine superiority of one methodology over another but to capitalize on the learning benefits offered by the different methods. Learners should be provided opportunity to use multiple resources, thus favoring flexibility in the acquisition of knowledge. Proper amalgamation of traditional teaching methodologies such as lectures and dissection and the newer instructional methods, namely problem-based learning and computer-aided learning, would help to catalyze the shift from pedagogy to andragogy, where educators no longer serve chiefly as the dispensers of the subject content, but act as facilitators of learning and evaluators of competency. The net result should be to produce lifelong learners committed to continuous improvement of skills and knowledge.