Gaining Competencies During Early Medical Training: Medical Students As Teaching Assistants In Dissection‐Based Anatomy Course

Competency based curricula have been widely implemented in medical schools. To strengthen medical students’ competency training during the early years of their medical education, we established an anatomy Teaching Assistant (TA) program. Ten second‐year medical students were recruited into the program. Their primary responsibility was to serve as TAs in an 8 week, dissection‐based anatomy course for Physician Assistant (PA) students. Additional dissection‐based projects, such as laminectomy, advance dissection of head & neck, and development of learning tools, were incorporated into the program. A questionnaire was conducted at the end of the program. The questions addressed five of six ACGME core competencies, namely development of professionalism, communication skills, lifelong learning, improvement of knowledge, and patient care. Nine of 10 students responded to the questionnaire. All of the responders agreed that they learned various aspects of professionalism, such as commitment to excellence, respect and compassion for learners, providing accurate scientific information, and commitment to timeliness. Interestingly, only 67% agreed that they must wear professional attire during professional activities. As expected, all agreed that their knowledge of anatomy was strengthened after participating in this program. Through interactions with PA students, peer TAs and faculty members, all students agreed that their interpersonal and communication skills were improved. Learning when to provide answers, and when to challenge students with questions, enhanced their leadership and decision making skills (89%). Most of the TAs acknowledged improvement of lifelong learning skills, including the ability to consult various learning resources, initiate advanced study to answer student questions, and create innovative learning tools. All agreed that abilities related to future patient care were enhanced, including problem solving and teaching. All of the TAs agreed that faculty members were strong role models for professionalism, indicating that faculty can significantly influence medical students in their professional growth. PA students highly evaluated the teaching efforts of the TAs. 100% of the PA students acknowledged the TAs were helpful resources for their dissection and the learning tool development by a TA was helpful. In summary, our anatomy TA program provided a unique opportunity for second year medical students to gain skills and behaviors expected of health professionals. Through this program, TAs strengthened anatomical knowledge, improved communication skills, gained a deeper understanding of professionalism, and demonstrated competencies related to independent study and lifelong learning.