Prediction and Performance of Allied Health Students in Gross Anatomy

Abstract

Given the foundational importance of gross anatomy in most allied health programs, understanding how to best predict student performance can be beneficial both to admissions and anatomy faculty. The purpose of this research is to better understand the relationship between admissions variables, pre‐requisite courses, and gross anatomy coursework in professional programs. We hope to determine what elements of prerequisites can possibly serve as performance predictors and which factors from prior coursework contributes the most to student success.With IRB approval, surveys were given at the start and end of the gross anatomy courses for occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students. The surveys collected demographics, previous anatomy course information, predicted grades for the upcoming course, and Likert scale responses to questions regarding how previous anatomy coursework would assist students in the course. There were several open‐ended questions regarding prior clinical experience, study strategies, and asking if students would recommend a prior anatomy course. Admissions data were collected from the respective departments including Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores and Grade Point Averages (GPA). At the completion of the courses, students' lecture and lab grades were reported by the course director. Analyses of the admissions data, prior anatomy coursework, and current gross anatomy grade data were done primarily through multiple variable linear regression, with t‐tests for comparison between cohorts. Open ended responses were analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach to generate codes and then themes across student responses.There was a 100% survey response rate for those students who completed the courses. Respondents consisted of 83 students, 51 from PT and 32 from OT. All of the OT students reported having previous anatomy coursework and 46 of 51 PT students (90%) reported having an anatomy course. Independent t‐tests showed that PT students performed significantly better than OT students (p < 0.001) in both the lecture courses (MPT = 93.39, SE = .57; MOT = 85.97. SE = .97) and lab courses (MPT = 93.96, SE = .58; MOT = 88.80. SE = 1.02). Multiple variable linear regression showed that GRE Quantitative scores contributed significantly to the model (B = .400, p = .006) and when included with GRE Verbal, prerequisite GPA, and number of prior anatomy courses the model was significant, F(4,78) = 8.033, p < .001 and accounted for almost 30% of the variance. Qualitative analysis showed the majority of students strongly recommended an anatomy course prior to pursuing an OT or PT graduate degree with the most common themes being the management of the volume of information and the importance to the profession. The outcomes serve to demonstrate the validity of admissions variables as predictors of course performance in gross anatomy as well as to determine students' opinions of the value of prior anatomy courses. Student insight into the value of previous anatomy coursework can possibly help guide anatomy educators, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, in determining the focus of their courses.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.