Introduction of the Modified Neuroanatomy Motivation Questionnaire and Its Role in Comparing Medical Student Attitudes Towards Learning Neuroanatomy Between Neuro-enthusiasts and Standard Students

Abstract

Background Neurophobia has been identified as a potential barrier to adequate knowledge of neurology in the medical community, and therefore to patient safety. There is a drive to identify the source of neurophobia, in the hope of tackling it. Comparing the learning motivations of standard medical students with those who enjoy neuroanatomy may be a way of doing this. Methods The science motivation questionnaire (SMQ) was modified for neuroanatomy. It was distributed to three cohorts of second year medical students and students attending the extracurricular National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition (NUNC). Cohen’s D test for effect size was used to compare standard medical students and those attending the NUNC. Results Five hundred ninety-seven questionnaires were completed by second year students, and 320 by NUNC attendees. The differences in motivation to learn neuroanatomy between the 2 groups mainly fell into themes of career motivation, personal relevance, intrinsic motivation and assessment anxiety. Conclusion This study has demonstrated the use of the SMQ in neuroanatomy, and found differences in motivators to learn neuroanatomy between self-selecting “neurophiles” and standard medical students, mainly relating to intrinsic motivation and its role in their lives. More research is needed to further explore these differences and how they might apply to interventions in medical school curricula.

Twenty years on: The rationale and use of the clinical cross‐sectional orientation in neuroanatomy

“…Several students noted the consistency between all of the anatomical disciplines and how the transition to neuroradiology was easier. The consistency in using only one cross‐sectional orientation throughout all of medical education could help alleviate student cognitive dissonance when learning neuroanatomy (Hall et al, 2021; Moxham et al, 2022).…”

“…At the University of Miami, the neuroanatomy and anatomy instruc- throughout all of medical education could help alleviate student cognitive dissonance when learning neuroanatomy (Hall et al, 2021;Moxham et al, 2022).…”

“…This could also lead those students with less developed mental rotation skills to find neuroanatomy difficult to understand. These students could experience “neurophobia” (the fear of learning neuroanatomy and neurology) (Tarolli & Józefowicz, 2018; Hall et al, 2021; Moxham et al, 2022).…”

Investigating the impact of remote neuroanatomy education during the COVID‐19 pandemic using online examination performance in a National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition

“…Due to the rapid uptake of online neuroanatomy learning resources, 14–16 many were implemented before having their feasibility and potential advantages/disadvantages appropriately evaluated due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID‐19 lockdown measures. Additionally, there remains a relative lack of subjective and objective data exploring the usefulness of these new modalities 11 .…”

“…12 However, many limitations, such as resource availability, technical capacity and overall accuracy, and reliability may hinder the sustainable integration of these new teaching methods. 10,12 The Due to the rapid uptake of online neuroanatomy learning resources, [14][15][16] many were implemented before having their feasibility and potential advantages/disadvantages appropriately evaluated due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 lockdown measures. Additionally, there remains a relative lack of subjective and objective data exploring the usefulness of these new modalities.…”