Interinstitutional study to compare the effectiveness of a radiology-anatomy module of instruction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to validate the effectiveness of a proven radiology-anatomy instructional module during I st-year gross anatomy courses at Emory University College of Medicine and the University of Iowa College of Medicine. This prospective study involved 108 Emory students and 177 Iowa students. The instructional content was the same at both institutions. Each student was randomly assigned into one of three groups at each institution, and each group received a unique, randomized, five-item pretest. All students were posttested as part of their gross anatomy laboratory examination, and the posttests consisted of all 15 items used in the three five-item pretests. No statistically significant pretest effects were demonstrated by t tests. Posttest performances across items ranged from 73% to 96% correct for Emory students and 67% to 98% for Iowa students. Performance levels on the posttests were significantly higher than on pretests, and few significant differences were found in the performance of the two populations. The radiology-anatomy instructional module integrated into the gross anatomy courses for 1st-year Emory University and University of Iowa students was not instructor or institution dependent.