The place of cadaveric dissection in post-COVID-19 anatomy education

The state of alarm due to Covid-19 pandemic in Spain stopped all educational and most university research activities. The Spanish Anatomical Society (SAE) Consensus Expert Group on Body Donations piloted a study based on a questionnaire to know the status of body donations and dissection activities during the lockdown, as well as the future implications of Covid-19 pandemic for body donation programs and Anatomy teaching. The questionnaire results show that Spanish Universities refused body donations and stopped all dissection research and teaching. The Covid-19 expected influence on Anatomy teaching was referred to the increase of teaching workforce and resources required to apply the new safety measures to future practical activities, as well as to prepare and adapt teaching material for online-only programs. The application of reinforced safety measures was expected to be perceived by the respondent's students as a gain in teaching quality, while the transformation of the anatomy courses in online-only programs will be perceived as a quality decrease. The respondent's concerns about future institutional implications of the pandemic were related to increased costs of the adaptation of the facilities and the reinforced preventive measures, as well as the eventual decrease in donations. The complete lockdown applied on dissection rooms is not justified by scientific evidence and represents a break of the confidence deposed in the institutions by the donors. A consensus is required for the adoption of a renewed, comprehensive protocol for present and future body donations including the evidence Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to create.

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

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Body Donation, Teaching, and Research in Dissection Rooms in Spain in Times of Covid‐19

Manzanares-Céspedes

Dalmau-Pastor

Blas

et al. 2021

“…While there were anecdotal calls for returning to the anatomy laboratory (Onigbinde et al, 2021b;Ross et al, 2021), quantification of such a return had not been done. It is unknown whether the initial curricular adaptations persisted, as anatomy educators were continuously requesting insight from their colleagues about how to teach during the pandemic.…”

Section: Health Professions Education Has Been Uniquely Impacted Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of anatomy education before and during Covid‐19: August–December 2020

Attardi

Harmon

Barremkala

et al. 2022

Covid‐19 disrupted the in‐person teaching format of anatomy. To study changes in gross anatomy education that occurred August‐December, 2020 compared to before the pandemic, an online survey was distributed to anatomy educators. The 191 responses received were analyzed in total and by academic program, geographic region, and institution type. Cadaver use decreased overall (before: 74.1 ± 34.1%, during: 50.3 ± 43.0%, P < 0.0001), as well as across allopathic and osteopathic medicine, therapy, undergraduate, and veterinary programs ( P < 0.05), but remained unchanged for other programs ( P > 0.05). Cadaver use decreased internationally and in the US ( P < 0.0001), at public and private ( P < 0.0001) institutions, and among allopathic medical programs in Northeastern, Central, and Southern ( P < 0.05), but not Western, US geographical regions. Laboratories during Covid‐19 were delivered through synchronous (59%), asynchronous (4%), or mixed (37%) formats ( P < 0.0001) and utilized digital resources (47%), dissection (32%), and/or prosection (21%) ( P < 0.0001). The practical laboratory examination persisted during Covid‐19 ( P = 0.419); however, the setting and materials shifted to computer‐based ( P < 0.0001) and image‐based ( P < 0.0001), respectively. In‐person lecture decreased during Covid‐19 (before: 88%, during: 24%, P = 0.003). When anatomy digital resources were categorized, dissection media, interactive software, and open‐access content increased (P ≤ 0.008), with specific increases in BlueLink, Acland’s Videos, and Complete Anatomy ( P < 0.05). This study provided evidence of how gross anatomy educators continued to adapt their courses past the early stages of the pandemic.

“…Therefore, this letter aims to describe the experiences of teaching an allied healthcare student with blindness during the Covid‐19 pandemic and the strategies used to accommodate them, in conjunction with the challenges faced. This is important as many universities are considering delivering anatomical education through a blended approach in the future (Longhurst et al, 2020 ; Böckers et al, 2021 ; Onigbinde et al, 2021 ; Shahrvini et al, 2021 ). Consequently, adjustment and accommodation in order to deliver accessible online education may be necessary.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching a blind student anatomy during the Covid‐19 pandemic

Longhurst

2021

With great interest I read the article titled 'Human Anatomy: Teaching-Learning Experience of a Support Teacher and a Student with Low Vision and Blindness' by Mendonça and colleagues (2021) and I would like to commend all the staff involved for their commitment in delivering accessible anatomical education. This article describes techniques employed by a highly qualified support teacher to assist a student with low vision and blindness in learning anatomy, in addition to the learning experiences of this student. Further publications have also discussed techniques employed to teach anatomy to students with visual impairments (Diniz and Sita, 2019;Muchlinski et al., 2020, Hospitál, 2020. Only through the dissemination of innovative pedagogies and the sharing of teaching-learning experiences through publication, conferences, and even social media will anatomy as educators to ensure that the learning environment, be it physical or digital, is accessible and inclusive to all students (Shea and Sandoval, 2020;Smith and Pawlina, 2021). Importantly, these changes have the potential to benefit all future students of anatomy, not just those with disabilities.