Exciting New Orleans youth with plastinated anatomic specimens

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the type of anatomy specimen (wet or plastinated) affected the anatomy educational experience of high school students from the New Orleans community. High school educational workshops have been carried out as community outreach activities for many years at Louisiana State University Health Science Center to stimulate area youth's interest in the field of Science. These workshops have traditionally utilized formalin‐fixed wet cadaveric specimens, which necessitated the use of laboratory space and safety materials. For this project, plastinated specimens were prepared and utilized to teach the educational workshops in addition to the wet specimens. After the workshop, the high school students were surveyed on their experience with the organs and also their feelings toward the anatomical sciences. Of the participants that attended these workshops, 49% are underrepresented minorities (African American and/or Latino). Each session was one‐hour in duration, and wet and plastinated specimens were labeled for learning key anatomical features. A total of 108 students were surveyed, with one group (n=46) interacting with both wet and plastinated specimens and a second group (n=62) interacting with only plastinated specimens. Data collected demonstrated that 91% of students learning from both wet and plastinated specimens felt positively toward the field of anatomy and 30% expressed wanting to learn more about anatomy. Of the group learning from only plastinated specimens, 79% reported feeling positively toward the field of anatomy and 20% wanting to learn more about anatomy. These results suggest that plastinated specimens may not significantly decrease student interest in anatomy although when given the choice, the students reported that they preferred the wet specimens. Although plastinated specimens are initially costly, they provide other long‐term benefits. They eliminate formalin exposure for the adolescent participants and also the needs for laboratory storage, gloves and bio‐hazardous waste. Based on the results from this study, we encourage other medical universities to invest in plastinated specimens and incorporate them into community outreach programs to inspire future young anatomists.Support or Funding InformationThis project was funded by the American Association of Anatomists Community Outreach Grant.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.