Anatomical Sciences Education最新文献

The practice of involving students in designing pedagogical resources, including gamified learning tools, is often underutilized. Traditionally, students are engaged in usability and efficacy testing of finalized learning tools, limiting their ability to shape the learning experience from inception. However, adopting a Students as Partners (SAP) approach allows for their involvement earlier and throughout the design and development process. Design thinking offers a structured methodology to optimize this partnership, providing a learner-centered approach to creating gamified learning tools with students for students. This process fosters a deep understanding of students' needs (empathizing and defining learners' needs), incorporates their ideas (challenging assumptions and idea creation), and enables iterative feedback (involvement in prototyping and testing). In this article, we describe how the design thinking methodology, in collaboration with SAP, was utilized to develop Anat-O-MEE, a gamified learning toolkit designed to enhance students' three-dimensional (3D) spatial reasoning skills in anatomy. The toolkit consists of three scaffolded levels-Map, Explore, and Extrapolate-which progressively support the transition from 2D to 3D anatomical understanding. Student partners played an active role in user-interface testing, functionality assessments, and alpha testing of games and tasks, contributing to iterative refinements in both design and content.

While gamified learning platforms show promise for engaging digital learners and promoting active learning, evidence of their effectiveness in predicting academic outcomes remains limited. This study examined how engagement patterns and incentives impact academic outcomes in a gamified environment to determine whether a formative question bank enhances engagement, supports self-regulated learning, and provides data to guide academic support. First-year medical students (N = 201) participated in an optional gamified question bank delivering weekly questions across a five-block foundational sciences course. Student engagement was quantified using a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) incorporating accuracy, consistency, and response timelines. Statistical analyses examined correlations between engagement metrics and academic performance, comparing response patterns across student performance tertiles. Ninety-seven percent of students participated, achieving a mean accuracy of 79.8%. PER showed strong positive correlations with final course grades (R = 0.30, p < 0.001). High-performing students responded to questions significantly earlier than low-performing students (p < 0.01). Students in the highest engagement tertile achieved significantly higher final grades than middle and low-engagement groups (p < 0.001). Question accuracy consistently correlated with summative knowledge scores across all course blocks. An externally incentivized block demonstrated the highest participation (85.6%) and accuracy (86.5%). A gamified question bank effectively promotes beneficial study behaviors and reliably predicts academic performance. Early engagement was linked to higher achievement, while low engagement correlated with lower exam performance, highlighting the opportunity to identify academically at-risk students. These findings support gamified platforms as valuable tools for enhancing learning outcomes and enabling early intervention strategies.

Escape rooms (ERs) offer an immersive, time-constrained, puzzle-solving environment that mirrors real-world challenges and fosters collaboration. This study aimed to evaluate the design and implementation of an ER for medical students preparing for a high-stake examination using the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework. Designed for flexibility, the game can be delivered in-person, online, or in a hybrid format, and utilizes a low-cost board/card style game structure to ensure accessibility and feasibility. Key design considerations included fostering peer collaboration, building excitement and tension, visual and narrative immersion, and ease of implementation. To evaluate the game, we collected both quantitative and qualitative data through post-game surveys and direct observation of gameplay. Deductive coding of qualitative feedback was used, and final codes were mapped to the MDA framework. Players reported high levels of overall satisfaction with the game experience. Analysis revealed that elements of the aesthetics and game mechanics contributed to emotional immersion, which facilitated learning and mirrored test-taking pressures. Dynamics such as collaborative puzzle-solving and strategy were observed. This study demonstrates that ERs can be a valuable pedagogical strategy for high-stake examination review as they mimic a high-pressure scenario for cognitive rehearsal. Using the MDA framework for both game design and evaluation provided valuable insights into how specific elements influence learner experience. The emotional and collaborative nature of the game makes it a promising model for educators seeking to enhance review sessions through gamified learning.

Knowledge of gross anatomy and embryology continues to be important for medical student training. However, the relevance of anatomical knowledge during the preclinical years remains underexplored considering recent revisions to the scoring of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). Guided by the framework of cognitive apprenticeship, which conceptualizes the anatomy laboratory as a learning environment that leads to medical student expertise, the focus of this study was on the relationship between the anatomical expertise and clinical expertise of medical students as measured by scores on standardized assessments. Data from 108 medical students who graduated as part of the Class of 2024 at a Southeastern institution were included in the analysis. A multiple linear regression model was created with the predictor variables of Gross Anatomy and Embryology Sub-score on the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Comprehensive Basic Science Examination and MCAT Score for each of the following outcome variables: USMLE Step 2 Score; NBME Clinical Science Subject Examination (CSSE) Scores for Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, and Clinical Neurology; and NBME Advanced CSSE Score for Emergency Medicine. In the resulting models, Gross Anatomy and Embryology Sub-score was a statistically significant predictor of USMLE Step 2 Score as well as for all NBME CSSE Scores and NBME Advanced CSSE Scores. The findings of this study support cognitive apprenticeship as a theoretical perspective for anatomical sciences education by providing evidence for a relationship between medical students' anatomical expertise and clinical expertise.

The anatomy lab has traditionally been a cornerstone of medical education, combining technical skill acquisition with professional identity formation. However, a predominant focus on academic performance, coupled with the intensity of this experience, has raised concerns about learner burnout and diminished humanistic development of students. To address these challenges, we adapted Michael Quinn Patton's Developmental Evaluation—a systems-based approach to social innovation—as the Developmental Change Model for Flourishing in Medical Education (DCM-FME). The DCM-FME provides a flourishing-centered approach to reframe the educational environment without altering the curriculum or compromising competency outcomes. The DCM-FME is structured around four key phases: stakeholder engagement, repurposing existing structures, promoting flourishing perspectives and practices, and continuous evaluation. Stakeholder input from faculty, students, and administrators informed changes such as reimagining attendance procedures as reflective check-ins, restructuring anatomy intern roles to emphasize mentorship, and fostering collaborative learning communities. Flourishing-focused practices emphasized agency, meaningful relationships, and professional identity. These were facilitated through reflective discussions, peer mentorship, and shared decision-making. Ongoing evaluation, using tools like the Thrive Assessment, provided actionable insights, enabling iterative improvements for all stakeholders and the educational environment. This approach reframes the anatomy lab as a developmental environment, fostering holistic growth while addressing systemic contributors to burnout. The DCM-FME offers a resourceful, scalable, and adaptable process for integrating a flourishing-centered approach to physician formation across medical education. Future efforts will explore longitudinal impacts and broader applications to support the development of compassionate and capable physicians.

Many parts of the world, especially low- and middle-income countries, lack access to supplemental, time-efficient, and engaging teaching resources. Additionally, many anatomy educators may feel ill-equipped to teach in neuro-related fields. To address these issues, the Global Neuroanatomy Network (GNN) is a new repository of open educational resources (ROER) developed for neuroanatomy educators worldwide. The GNN expands on existing ROERs within health professions and anatomical sciences education while filling the neuroanatomy gap through peer-reviewed, multilingual teaching resources and clinical cases. Funded by the American Association for Anatomy, the GNN is freely available to neuroanatomy educators at all academic institutions. GNN members can submit their teaching resources or clinical cases for peer review and view or download content that global colleagues have submitted. The GNN aims to enhance neuroanatomy education by creating and supporting the expansion of a novel repository and further growing a community of neuroanatomy educators.

There has been growing interest in incorporating point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) into the curriculum of medical schools. In this study, we describe a condensed version of the 4-view cardiac assessment and assess its reliability and validity in pre-clerkship medical students at Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine. Criteria regarding general POCUS principles were adapted from the Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skills (OSAUS). A condensed assessment was created based on previous studies using the 4-view cardiac exam. Pre-clerkship medical students completed the assessment before and after participation in a 2-week intensive anatomy and ultrasound summer program. Reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and “alpha if item deleted” analyses. Construct validity of the assessment was evaluated using item discrimination analysis and point-biserial correlation. Twenty pre-clerkship medical students completed the assessments. There was acceptable internal consistency of both assessments. Items of the parasternal long and short axis views had high positive correlation in the initial assessment, while items in the parasternal long, parasternal short, and apical 4-chamber views had high positive correlation in the final assessment. This project outlines the creation of an assessment tool of POCUS competency for future clinicians. There was good reliability and validity in both assessments, especially with the parasternal long and short views in both assessments. The flexibility of POCUS in a broad spectrum of clinical settings and disciplines combined with its growing incorporation into medical education accentuates the need for a standardized and valid assessment of ultrasound competency.

A deep understanding of pelvic floor anatomy requires a three-dimensional visualization of the spatial relationships among pelvic neurovasculature, soft tissue structures, and bony landmarks, which are highly complex and difficult to comprehend solely through traditional teaching methods such as didactic lectures and anatomical dissection. This short communication presents the creation of a physical model of the pelvic floor created through three-dimensional printing, sculpted soft tissue structures, and rubber-coated wire neurovasculature. The model served as an intermediate and supplemental instructional tool for preclinical medical students, with the goal of helping them translate their two-dimensional understanding of the pelvic floor from lecture to the anatomical dissection lab.