Letters
Anatomy and physiology Surgery
Volume 195 - Issue 8

Delivering supplemental anatomy education: the University of Queensland model

Authors:  Matthew J Roberts, Bavahuna Manoharan, Marianne Vonau, Russell W Stitz and Owen A Ung

Med J Aust 2011; 195 (8): 449. || doi: 10.5694/mja11.10470
Published online: 17 October 2011
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To the Editor: The article by Ramsey-Stewart and colleagues1 reports a welcome addition to supplemental anatomy education in graduate-entry medical courses in Australia. Increasing medical student numbers are increasing pressure on teaching resources, further propagating the nationally recognised deficiency in anatomy teaching.2,3

In 2010, the University of Queensland Discipline of Surgery developed an extracurricular applied anatomy course to meet the needs of clinical students (Years 3 and 4) with varying foundations in anatomy.4 The course is based on a clinically oriented anatomy education model, using prosected specimens and computer resources, which has been shown to deliver learning outcomes.5 Student representatives were involved in all facets of curriculum development and evaluation. The course was taught by surgeons and provided an overview of whole-body applied anatomy in an interesting and engaging way. As the course had no seed funding, a modest course fee of $90, which was intended to be easily affordable but enough to encourage committed attendance, was charged. Class size was restricted to 44 students, with selections from the 150 applicants (from about 800 students across both years) made on a first-come, first-served basis.

Over seven Saturday mornings, the students received 2-hour tutorials from surgeons with expertise in specific fields of regional anatomy. This scheduling minimised disruption for both surgeons and students. Various educational resources, including three-dimensional virtual modelling and potted pathology specimens, were used. Participants completed a short multiple choice test before each week’s tutorial. The course concluded with a wet laboratory session, staffed by surgeons using prosected cadaveric specimens at multiple stations, with a one-to-five surgeon–student ratio. Students completed a post-course exam of collated pre-tutorial multiple choice questions, as well as five-point Likert-scale evaluation forms.

The students evaluated the course well (mean Likert score: 4.6 at 4 weeks, 4.8 at 8 weeks). Post-course exam scores demonstrated a small but significant improvement (mean ± SD: pre-course, 43% ± 16.7% v post-course, 50% ± 10.6%; P = 0.004). Scores were correlated with attendance.

The course was highly valued by students and surgeons, effectively improved students’ knowledge and satisfied their desire for further anatomy education. The course structure is time-efficient and cost-effective. However, this course, like that of Ramsey-Stewart et al,1 is extracurricular and does not deliver educational benefit to an entire cohort of students. Further development and evaluation are required to extrapolate the benefits of these extracurricular courses into the wider medical curriculum within the constraints of graduate MB BS programs. Our model has expanded to two courses in 2011.

Authors

  • Matthew J Roberts1
  • Bavahuna Manoharan1
  • Marianne Vonau1
  • Russell W Stitz1
  • Owen A Ung1
  • 1. Applied Anatomy Course Committee, Discipline of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD.

Correspondence: owenung@bigpond.com

Competing interests

No relevant disclosures.

References

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