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The Living Anatomy Project: Living Beyond First Year
Author(s) -
Pieczenik Stephanie,
Sager Carrie,
Laitman Jeffrey
Publication year - 2007
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.21.5.a215-d
Subject(s) - gross anatomy , curriculum , session (web analytics) , medical education , class (philosophy) , medical school , medicine , psychology , human body , anatomy , pedagogy , computer science , artificial intelligence , world wide web
The Living Anatomy Project (LAP) was originally designed as an adjunct to the first‐year Gross Anatomy curriculum. Now in its third year, the LAP has expanded to the second‐year clinical skills course and the third‐year elective module. The LAP was developed to augment standard anatomy teaching throughout the curriculum by allowing students to understand their body movements and underlying anatomy through yoga and pilates. It consists of a series of classes composed of yoga and pilates exercises chosen to demonstrate specific musculoskeletal anatomy and clinical correlations. Each class (n=20 students) is a voluntary 1–1.5 hour session led by two medical students who are certified pilates and yoga instructors. Student participants are surveyed to assess the project's impact on medical education and student wellness. Gross Anatomy 2005 first‐year respondents (n=27) agree that the classes (1) increase their conceptual knowledge of anatomy, (2) enhance their physical awareness, which they find important for a physician, and (3) enhance their well‐being, which they believe improves their academic performance. Consistently positive feedback from participating second year students confirms that the integrative method of the LAP is a viable approach to learning throughout the medical school curriculum, while promoting physical awareness and well‐being.