An innovative approach to supplement the teaching of the spatial gross anatomy relationships of muscles to undergraduates in health sciences

Abstract

Satisfactory assessment of the musculoskeletal disorders in patients by health professionals, followed by diagnosis, treatment, and referral require a good understanding of spatial and three-dimensional (S&3D) anatomy of musculature. Meanwhile, the importance and impact of S&3D learning has been underscored. A novel method to promote S&3D skills in the learning of the musculature of the upper and lower limb was developed, and subsequently evaluated among 120 first-year Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy undergraduate students at the University of Cape Town. Outlines of human muscles were mapped onto A4 papers, digitalized into a 22-page electronic document, labeled with anatomical details, and printed out. Each student was given a copy to cut out the diagrams and paste them correctly onto adult skeletons using Prestik, in what was called the muscle cut-out exercise (MCOE), just prior to each dissection practical. A questionnaire evaluating the MCOE was developed and 56 students responded. The students "strongly agreed" that the MCOE was useful in teaching them the spatial perspective of the human musculature. Forty-nine percent of the students felt that the size of the diagrams did not always match the skeletons due to variable sizes of the skeletons and 27% suggested the use of color as a means of enhancing the diagrams. The MCOE is a low-cost, enjoyable, time-efficient, easily reproducible, and hands-on practical learning experience.

Dissection and dissection‐associated required experiences improve student performance in gross anatomy: Differences among quartiles

“…Although the debate often centers around anecdotal and prescriptive discussions on learning, evaluating any educational strategy is an important academic exercise (Guttmann et al, ). In fact, the multifaceted aspect of the dissection experience includes exposure to education design (Patel and Moxham, ; Patel and Moxham, ), issues related to professionalism (e.g., Krych et al, ; Lachman and Pawlina, ; Böckers et al, ; Talarico, ), development of psychomotor skills and spatial reasoning (Rizzolo and Stewart, ; Gangata, ; Donnelly et al, ), and extends to the philosophic discussion of serving as an historic rite of passage (Scheckler, ; Gunderman and Wilson, ). As such, discussion about dissection as a learning strategy is complex and touches on many important issues in modern medical curricular planning such as cost, curriculum time, physical space, student satisfaction, pedagogy, and learning outcomes (Jones, ; Elizondo‐Omaña et al, ).…”

Anatomy in occupational therapy program curriculum: Practitioners' perspectives

“…The upper limb is dissected in its entirety; the remaining regions are taught with prosections. The choice to dissect only the upper limb was based on time restraints, the applicability of upper limb anatomy in many areas of OT practice, and the benefits of giving students hands on, tactile learning opportunities within the anatomy course (Gangata, ). In recent years, OT clinical educators have commented on how prepared the students are for their clinical rotations, particularly those in orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation settings.…”

“…These students value anatomy learning mediums that tailor to their technologically rich lifestyle, particularly those that can be accessed outside the classroom and dovetail as self‐study aids and review resources (Forearm et al, 2005). Hands on, direct learning strategies are also highly valued by OT and PT students, particularly strategies that emphasize learning anatomy concepts in 3D (living anatomy, use of muscle models on skeletons, and dissection) (Gangata, ).…”

Enhancement of temporal bone anatomy learning with computer 3D rendered imaging softwares

“…We hypothesized that interactive 3D models could assist undergraduate and graduate students in learning the complex spatial anatomy of the temporal bone, as demonstrated in other organs (Temkin et al 2006;Gangata 2008;Silen et al 2008;Crossingham et al 2009). By assessing the marks of the students at the final examination, we investigated if helping the mental representation of 3D structure could improve their knowledge of temporal bone anatomy.…”