Using Instagram as a Tool to Enhance Anatomy Learning at two U.S. Dental Schools

Abstract

Introduction Despite social media's profound role in building connections over the past two decades, its value as an educational tool in health professional education remains unclear. While few studies have investigated the use of social media to engage students outside the classroom (i.e. COVID-19 remote learning) in dental education, there are no reports to date of students’ and faculty perspectives of the use of Instagram in supplementing anatomical education in the dental curriculum. The aim of this study is the evaluate student perspective of social media in education and their respective anatomy professor's Instagram page as a supplemental resource. Materials and Methods This study was deemed exempt from the IRB at University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry (620-20-EX) and the CPHS at University of Texas Health Science Center (HSC-DB-20-0877). Anatomy faculty from UNMC and UTSD conducted this research during the fall of 2020 evaluating @yoachimanatomy and @theanatomydoctor. Subjects voluntarily participated on a Qualtrics survey; responses remained anonymous with no associated risks Results Of the 170 respondents, 60 (35.5%) identified as male and 108 (63.9%) identified as female (2 students did not identify).. Students were classified as Generation Y if born between 1980-1994; Generation Z if born 1995 or later. The majority of respondents (85.1%) had seven or more years of experience using social media; Facebook (96.3%), Instagram (94.4%), and GroupMe (91.9%) emerged as the three most-frequently used platforms. UTSD students self-reported more hours per day spent on social media than UNMC students, with 64% of students spending more than 2 hours per day compared to 33% of UNMC students (p=0.0003). 96.9% of students reported using social media as a source of information with 92.5% using it for educational purposes. All students agreed that their respective professor's page had been helpful for anatomy study and review, added to their understanding of anatomy, is convenient, engaging, and professional. UNMC students had a higher level of agreement regarding their page's added relevance to learning in the class and clinic (p=0.0016), while UTSD students reported feeling more comfortable asking their professor questions through Instagram (p=0.015). Among all variables, female students and Generation Z students responded more favorably than their male or Generation Y counterparts. Conclusion The unique platform features of Instagram create an ideal platform to supplement the visually-focused anatomy content. Our study provides evidence of students’ desires to have social media incorporated into their dental school curriculum, and the data reveal consistent themes in students’ perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of Instagram as a tool to supplement anatomical education. Significance Our study reveals crucial data supporting the inclusion of social media, and particularly Instagram, as a supplemental tool to anatomy education. Our collaboration between two unique programs, faculty, and Instagram pages sheds light on consistent benefits, drawbacks, and perspectives of students and faculty alike.