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Assessing the quality of dissection: A method for improving anatomy knowledge of first year medical students
Author(s) -
Nwachukwu Chika,
Lachman Nirusha,
Pawlina Wojciech
Publication year - 2013
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.27.1_supplement.318.6
Subject(s) - rubric , dissection (medical) , gross anatomy , medicine , human anatomy , teamwork , medical physics , medical education , quality (philosophy) , psychology , anatomy , mathematics education , philosophy , epistemology , political science , law
Anatomy learned by active exploration in the dissection laboratory has been shown to be beneficial in improving anatomic knowledge, promoting self‐reflection, teamwork, and professionalism. Decreased dissection time may affect the quality of dissection and ultimately retention of gross anatomy knowledge. This could translate to lower student performance in the anatomy course. The purpose of this study was to determine whether evaluating the quality of students’ dissection has an effect on practical examinations performance, mid and end‐course evaluations. Quality of dissections for each team enrolled in a gross anatomy course at Mayo Medical School was evaluated bi‐weekly. Each member of the dissection team received the same score which was calculated towards 5% of their final grade. Dissections were evaluated using a five‐point rubric that incorporates measures for determining whether students had met laboratory learning objectives. Assessment of anatomic knowledge was based on laboratory practical exam scores recorded at intervals throughout the course and achievements on daily audience response system quizzes. Increase in quality of dissection was associated with improvement in practical exams. Teams that received lower dissection scores had lower scores on practical exams. Our results imply that students who achieve daily dissection goals, perform better on the practical examinations. Grant Funding Source : Department of Anatomy