“What Bones And Bony Features Are You Teaching Your Students?” A Survey Of Skeletal System Coverage In Undergraduate Human Anatomy And Physiology Courses

Abstract

Undergraduate (baccalaureate) human anatomy (HA) and anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses are offered globally, but how similar is their content coverage for each organ system? There has been a dearth of published research on this subject. Previously, some of the authors (Reynolds et al., 2018; submitted) surveyed instructors of stand‐alone HA as well as A&P courses to document comparability and variability in skeletal muscular system coverage in these courses. We now focus our attention on skeletal system coverage in these courses. A study by Sparacino et al., (2019) evaluated the undergraduate nursing anatomy curriculum at four institutions in the United Kingdom, but the study did not list the specific bone and its features students needed to know.Thus, a representative sample is required to be able to assess the variations in skeletal system coverage in both stand‐alone HA and A&P courses across different institutions.We have developed an online survey where undergraduate HA and A&P faculty can report on which skeletal elements (bones), and which features on these bones they require their students to know. The skeletal system coverage survey is made accessible to participants online via Qualtrics. Bones and their bony features listed in the survey are those listed and described in a typical undergraduate human anatomy textbook (Human Anatomy, 6th edition textbook by McKinley, O’Loughlin, and Pennefather‐O’Brien [2021]). This survey will also collect institutional demographic data such as the type of institution, course format, and geographic location of the institution, for comparison. We need to collect data from a large and representative sample of courses in order to accurately describe skeletal system coverage trends.This poster will provide both an in‐depth justification for the need for such a survey and serve to recruit participants to complete the survey. Additional recruitment will occur via recruitment emails to AAA (American Association for Anatomy), HAPS (Human Anatomy and Physiology Society), and AACA (American Association of Clinical Anatomists) listservs, as well as at the HAPS 2022 annual meeting. Thus, we will meet to speak about the formation of this survey, collect survey data from willing AAA participants, and have a critical conversation about skeletal system coverage in undergraduate human anatomy and physiology courses.