Musculoskeletal Anatomy and Clinical Skills Combine to Deliver a Pandemic Safe Curriculum

Introduction The pandemic of 2020 presented an opportunity to evaluate options for changing the delivery of the anatomy curriculum to first year medical students. We describe the integration of small group anatomy and clinical skills sessions to accomplish this. Objective Albany Medical College switched to a completely virtual curriculum during March 2020. However, learning anatomy requires more than just lectures and small group conversations. Both clinical skills and anatomy courses require a hands‐on curriculum. Although the lecture portion of these courses can be delivered virtually, the hands‐on sessions contribute to the students’ ability to see and experience three‐dimensional integration. Materials 1). Lectures in both Anatomy and Clinical Skills, 2). 3‐D Anatomy modules using the Toltec Virtual Human Dissector platform, 3). Anatomical prosections, 4). Virtual cases, using the SECTRA Table platform, and 5). Clinical Skills sessions with ultrasound demonstrations. Methods In the fall semester of 2020, the first‐year class of 145 was randomly divided into 6 groups of about 24 students. During the musculoskeletal theme, there were 8 anatomy lab sessions and 4 clinical skills sessions. On days with corresponding clinical skills sessions, a group of 24 students came to the lab for a one‐hour review of the anatomy on prosected specimens and Sectra Table cases. Several structures were tagged in each cadaver and students were provided with a key. This allowed for self‐assessment and a chance to apply knowledge gained from lectures and 3‐D anatomy directly to real anatomy. Faculty rotated to address questions and to quiz the students on the anatomy topics. Each group spent one hour in the anatomy lab and then immediately rotated to the clinical skills session. The emphasis in the clinical skills portion was the connection between musculoskeletal anatomy and function, along with physical exam maneuvers. Each session began with a demonstration highlighting an aspect of musculoskeletal ultrasound to correlate anatomy with 2‐D imaging. Faculty rotated to address questions and provide demonstrations of maneuvers when indicated. Results There were no differences in exam scores when compared to previous classes for either anatomy or physical diagnosis topics. Conclusion Student feedback revealed the correlation of anatomy followed by clinical skills helped them better understand the anatomy and connection to the physical exam without the risks of exposure to large groups of students. Significance The new curriculum demonstrates that we can still teach the material and deliver the content in an effective manner despite the limitations of the COVID pandemic. Implication: The success of this model resulted in new and preferred structure of these classes.