Effectiveness of Anatomy R & R Boot Camps in a Physician Assistant Gross Anatomy Program

Abstract

Anatomy retention and recall (R & R) boot camps were created to strengthen the learning of clinically relevant gross anatomy by first‐year Physician Assistant (PA) students. The boot camps were held in order that students could self‐assess their level of anatomical knowledge and have time to review areas that they might be need more time to learn. The anatomy R & R boot camps replaced the traditional practice practical that usually was held the day before the anatomy practical, thereby, lessening the possibility that student could significantly increase their level of knowledge a day before a given practical. Each boot camp session was scheduled for 1 hour; students were asked to identify tagged structures at 35 stations during the first 35 minutes; students then had ~ 30 minutes to immediately review and gain feedback on what clues were used to identify a given structure. Students' perspective of the value of the PA anatomy R & R boot camps have been extremely positive. An online survey taken this by PA students in the first year of training identified that the boot camps: 1) improved their recall and improved their retention (98% strongly agreed or agreed); 2) increased their confidence in their ability to identify structures and functions (95% strongly agreed or agreed); 3) helped their learning of anatomy (95% strongly agreed or agreed); and 4) provided objective feedback on their level of knowledge (95% strongly agreed or agreed. The anatomy teaching faculty viewed the boot camps experiences as a positive means to further enrich students' knowledge base of anatomy. This study was approved by the UF Internal Review Board # IRB201800800.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.