Creating Instruction to Optimize Learning of the Anatomical Sciences

Abstract

Integration of basic and clinical science knowledge is increasingly being recognized as important for practice in the health professions. The concept of ‘cognitive integration’ places emphasis on role of basic science in providing critical connections to clinical signs and symptoms while accounting for the fact that clinicians may not explicitly articulate their use of basic science knowledge in clinical reasoning. In this study, we aimed to extend previous work on cognitive integration using new learning materials teaching musculoskeletal pathologies with allied health students. In addition, we aimed to further our understanding of cognitive integration and conceptual coherence by using a diagnostic justification task to investigate the impact of integrated basic science instruction on novices' diagnostic reasoning process. Participants (N = 43) were randomly assigned to a integrated basic science (BaSci) or clinical science (CS) training group. The BaSci group was taught the clinical features along with the underlying causal mechanisms of four musculoskeletal pathologies while the CS group was taught only the clinical features. To equalize the learning time between the two conditions, the CS group was taught epidemiology and potential treatment options for each of the pathologies. Participants completed a diagnostic accuracy and memory test immediately after learning and one‐week later. A diagnostic justification test was also completed one‐week after initial learning. Novices who learned the integrated causal mechanisms had superior diagnostic accuracy (p<0.01) and a better understanding of the relative importance of key clinical features (p<0.01). Although participants from both groups identified correct features on the justification test, those in the BaSci group identified key diagnostic features rather than features that were common across disease categories. Participants in the BaSci group also outperformed the CS group on the basic memory test; however, this difference was no longer evident one‐week later. This study demonstrates the positive impact of integrating basic anatomical education and clinical science instruction on students' diagnostic reasoning ability in addition to diagnostic accuracy. These findings further our understanding of conceptual coherence by providing explicit evidence of the advantage learners have when basic science knowledge is cognitively integrated.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.