Peer teachers introducing anatomy to first year medical students

Abstract

Systems approaches to medical education have changed the approach to anatomy from a concentrated "course" to a longitudinal, integrated theme in many medical school curricula. Thus, students may be forced to learn anatomy regionally without a sense of how different body systems are integrated. Furthermore, teaching by senior students has been found to be an effective educational method and can augment faculty resources in a small‐group curriculum. These issues led to our study question: Can a 10 hour introductory anatomy course taught solely by 2nd year medical students in a small‐group format improve the preparation of 1st year medical students for the demands of a systems‐based anatomy course?We had four goals:1) Provide a basic framework for the anatomy of major body systems2) Develop teaching and learning modules that show the relationship between anatomic structures, physical diagnosis and radiology3) Utilize peer‐teaching4) Promote interest in anatomyStudents finished 90% of each session. The average score on the cumulative quiz was 93%. Surveys indicated extremely high satisfaction with the course, overwhelmingly positive feedback about the peer teachers, and good pre‐class preparation by students. We saw no statistical difference in scores on the subsequent curricular anatomy assessments. Overall, goals 1‐4 were successfully met. However, incremental knowledge was not reflected in test scores.