Strategies for Enhancing Longitudinal Teaching of Anatomy across a Revised Medical School Curriculum

Integrating anatomy as a foundational science into a longitudinal curriculum structure presents many challenges and requires innovative strategies to maintain engagement of both learner and teacher. As medical schools increasingly move to a revised and integrated curriculum, these challenges will be encountered with increased frequency during the revision process. We present strategies utilized in presenting anatomy content, coordinated with donor body dissection, longitudinally across a four year curriculum. Methods We have revised the traditional gross anatomy course, taught over the initial months of medical school, into a longitudinal experience in which the students learn anatomy content simultaneously with organ and system case‐based learning (CBL) sessions dispersed throughout the first year. Anatomical topics, such as brachial plexopathy, rotator cuff syndrome, joint dislocation, and compartment syndrome, form the primary foundational science in certain CBL sessions. To diversify and enhance the laboratory experience, each student rotates amongst different teams containing 4–5 members, donor bodies, and anatomy faculty three times during the first year. Several times during the year, we hold Faculty Conferences, scheduled apart from the dissecting sessions, during which each student per group answers structural and clinically‐oriented questions at the “bedside” of their donor body. Each student receives verbal and written feedback, including scoring of competency‐based milestones, that is included in their overall gross anatomy assessment for an individual block. After completing clerkships in the second year, students revisit clinically‐focused anatomy within month‐long immersion experiences such as medical imaging and anatomy, injury, repair and rehab, human sexuality, and cardiovascular disease in the third and fourth year. Results Coordinating the delivery of anatomy content with CBL sessions prompts students to include anatomy in their clinical reasoning. The scheduled Faculty Conferences foster a sense of student ownership in completing dissections as teams often return to the anatomy lab outside of scheduled sessions to review dissections in preparation for these faculty‐led assessments. Students demonstrate proficiency in verbalizing anatomical understanding which prepares them for clinical clerkships and beyond. The third and fourth year immersion months allow a more in‐depth, clinically‐focused anatomy experience, especially for those students pursuing careers in radiology, surgery or obstetrics/gynecology. These courses have received laudable evaluations from the upper level students who are eager to build upon their scaffolding in the foundations of anatomy. Conclusions Integrating anatomy into year long, longitudinal instruction requires innovative approaches. We have identified that integrating anatomy content with CBL allows simultaneous connections of anatomy concepts with specific clinical correlation. These connections are further strengthened by periodic Faculty Conference assessments of each student prior to their end of block assessments. Immersions in the third and fourth year allow an in‐depth dive in anatomy so that they can place it in a clinical context at a time when it means most to their future career choices. Using these strategies for teaching anatomy enhances student learning and engagement across the four year longitudinal curriculum.