An anatomy precourse enhances student learning in veterinary anatomy

Abstract

Veterinary anatomy is often a source of trepidation for many students. Currently professional veterinary programs, similar to medical curricula, within the United States have no admission requirements for anatomy as a prerequisite course. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of a week-long precourse in veterinary anatomy on both objective student performance and subjective student perceptions of the precourse educational methods. Incoming first year veterinary students in the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine professional curriculum were asked to participate in a free precourse before the start of the semester, covering the musculoskeletal structures of the canine thoracic limb. Students learned the material either via dissection only, instructor-led demonstrations only, or a combination of both techniques. Outcome measures included student performance on examinations throughout the first anatomy course of the professional curriculum as compared with those who did not participate in the precourse. This study found that those who participated in the precourse did significantly better on examinations within the professional anatomy course compared with those who did not participate. Notably, this significant improvement was also identified on the examination where both groups were exposed to the material for the first time together, indicating that exposure to a small portion of veterinary anatomy can impact learning of anatomical structures beyond the immediate scope of the material previously learned. Subjective data evaluation indicated that the precourse was well received and students preferred guided learning via demonstrations in addition to dissection as opposed to either method alone. Anat Sci Educ 9: 344-356. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.

Benefits of extracurricular participation in dissection in a prosection‐based medical anatomy program

“…Medical students will likely continue to vary in pre‐existing anatomy knowledge, particularly in Canada, where anatomy courses are not a prerequisite for admission to any medical school (AFMC, ). As such, optional dissection during medical school or educational interventions prior to medical school, such as anatomy “boot camps” (Herling et al, ) or pre‐courses (McNulty et al, ), may reduce differences in anatomy preparedness that exist in students early in medical training.…”

Computer Assisted Learning: Assessment of the Veterinary Virtual Anatomy Education Software IVALA™

“…Student open responses were analyzed for common themes using axial and open coding that is based on Grounded Theory [41,42,43,44,45]. This retrospective process involved the extraction of one or more points of interest from each written comment, with subsequent independent placement into a topic theme by two researchers.…”

Perceived Benefits of Anatomy Coursework Prior to Medical and Dental School

“…Another study in an osteopathic medical program demonstrated a difference in gross anatomy performance favoring students who participated in the summer pre‐matriculation program on both block examinations and the final course grade (Herling et al, ). A veterinary school study (McNulty et al, ) demonstrated that students with summer pre‐matriculation coursework not only scored better on the repeated material in veterinary gross anatomy, but the gains also carried over to improved performance over non‐participating students on subsequent gross anatomy examinations. Tucker () demonstrated that not only can a pre‐matriculation course significantly predict performance in a medical gross anatomy course, but it also correlated to USMLE ® Step 1 examination scores.…”