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Exposing the Gaps: A Review of Anatomy Education Literature
Author(s) -
Traser Courtney,
Hoffman Leslie,
Brokaw James,
Wilson Adam
Publication year - 2015
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.29.1_supplement.695.2
Subject(s) - thematic analysis , medical education , medicine , qualitative research , social science , sociology
Background & Purpose This review investigated the thematic nature of articles most commonly published in Anatomical Sciences Education ( ASE ) so as to propose a research agenda that identifies underrepresented anatomy education research topics. Methods The PubMed database was searched for all ASE published articles between January 2008 and October 2014. Articles listed as either “Research Reports” or “Descriptive Articles” were included in the analysis. Frequencies of article prevalence were tallied after categorizing articles according to their title and study aims. Results Of the 301 articles analyzed, 75% had a focus in gross anatomy and more than half (57%) were from institutions outside of the U.S. The three principal areas of research focus included ‘development and/or evaluation of anatomy education resources' (28% of articles), ‘teaching methods and approaches' (25% of articles), and ‘body donation/dissection’ (14% of articles). Technology‐oriented studies were also common and a number of research topics, such as virtual microscopy, recurred more than five times. Conclusion The preliminary findings of this study suggest a greater need for systematic reviews and focused meta‐analyses. This review assimilated 6+ years of research and proposes topics for future study in anatomy education.