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Gaining greater appreciation for anatomy through self‐reflection
Author(s) -
Elzie Carrie,
Eagan Marie,
Tenaglia Holly
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.s1.05206
Subject(s) - gross anatomy , psychology , creativity , paragraph , medical education , theme (computing) , perception , medicine , anatomy , social psychology , computer science , neuroscience , world wide web , operating system
Reflective writing encourages students to engage with their experiences to grow and expand their thinking. Reflection has been shown to improve patient care, enhance critical thinking, encourage creativity and inspire self‐awareness. Reflection has been used extensively in gross anatomy mostly with respect to the experience of the course and working with anatomical donors. Very little is known about students’ awareness of their own anatomy. Therefore, we created an anonymous self‐reflection exercise for health professional students prompting them to write about their own anatomy. We hypothesized that this exercise would lead to a greater appreciation for the subject and how it impacts not only themselves, but their future patients, as well. Health professional students (n=133) enrolled in a gross anatomy course were asked to choose 5 of 17 provided anatomical parts/regions and write a short paragraph about how/why it is important to them at the beginning of the course. Students were also asked to answer four Likert questions related to this exercise. A deductive approach was used to code and thematically analyze the reflections using the following categories: physical, emotional, medical, practical/utility, spiritual, personal, metaphorical, and occupational. The most written about body parts were the hands, eyes, and brain respectively. The least written about part was the pelvis. Students most commonly wrote about how their anatomy impacted their self‐perception and self‐appreciation. The second most common theme was related to the utility and practicality of their own anatomy. 85% of students felt this reflection made them think about their anatomy differently and 98% felt this exercise gave them a greater appreciation for their own anatomy. This reflection also made students think about their own anatomical donor's story (96%) and how anatomy impacts the lives of their patients (75%). In conclusion, the act of reflecting is a useful tool to begin an anatomy course and set the tone for a deeper understanding of the importance of anatomy beyond the course didactics.