Integrating Clinical Correlations into the Gross Anatomy Laboratory: Clinically‐Oriented Laboratory Manuals

Abstract

Introduction Anatomy is a fundamental course in medical education and is of critical importance to the development clinical skills. Within the gross anatomy laboratory, students encounter their “first patient,” the cadaver. Through dissection, students develop skills in spatial reasoning, interprofessional communication, anatomical knowledge, and clinical reasoning. However, clinicians feel that medical students entering the clinic have inadequate anatomical knowledge and clinical reasoning skills; and they propose the learning of anatomy through clinical applications. Materials and Methods In order to address this, clinical cases with guided questions were added to a laboratory manual (Clinically-Oriented Laboratory Manuals (COLMs)) in a first-year medical gross anatomy course. After laboratory sessions, post-assessment scores testing clinical awareness were compared between students who examined prosections with the COLMs (treatment) versus those who solely viewed prosections (control). Additionally, students’ scores on clinical vignette examination questions were compared between a previous medical student class (students who dissected without COLMs; the control group) and current students who viewed prosections with COLMs (treatment group). Students’ perceptions were also collected using a Likert-scale survey. Results There was no significant difference in post-assessment scores between students who viewed prosections with the COLMs and those without the COLMs (t1304.735= 0.647, p = 0.518). Concerning clinical vignette examination scores, there was a significant difference between the treatment and control groups (t303.347 = -3.187, p = 0.002) with students in the treatment group scoring 3.4% (0.67 points) higher than students in the control group. In a perceptions survey, the majority of students (61.6%) strongly agreed or agreed that viewing prosections with the COLMs is a good way to learn anatomy. Thirty-two percent of students agreed with the statement that they would want more COLMs in the laboratory. Conclusion The results suggest that COLMs do not aid in post-assessment scores after a laboratory session, which could be explained by students’ preparedness before entering the lab. However, COLMs do aid in better scores on clinical vignette examination questions, suggesting that they may help students recall information on examinations. Students’ perceived the usefulness of the COLMs; however, they desired better implementation of the COLMs in the laboratory. The addition of COLMs in the laboratory is a potential method to address the need for clinical application within the gross anatomy.