Comparison of dissection-based vs. internet-based pelvic anatomy education for 3rd year medical students


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Article type :

Original Article

Author :

Pouya Javadian, S. Shobeiri

Volume :

3

Issue :

2

Abstract :

With the inclusion of various technologies, teaching anatomy to medical students is in the midst of a transition in medical schools. The traditional anatomy curriculum based on topographical structural anatomy taught by didactic lectures and complete dissection of the body with personal instruction, has been replaced by a multiple range of special study modules, problem-based workshops, computer based education, plastic models, just to name a few of teaching tools employed. Most new tools in the literature are descriptive and lack efficacy data. In this study we compared an internet-based anatomy module with traditional methods taught to the 3rd year medical students. During 2008-2014, pelvic anatomy was taught to 3rd year medical students using dissection-based (DB) and internet-based (IB) methods. This module was composed of 30 minutes of a lecture with PowerPoint, 30 minutes of anatomy videos, 30 minutes of dissection lab, and a post-test at the conclusion. The 30 min of anatomy video course consisted of 30 minutes session designed to address the perineal external and internal anatomy, perineal muscles and neurovasculature, caudad view of levator ani muscle, lateral view of pelvic organs and vasculature, cephalad view of pelvic organs and nerves, and cephalad view of the levator ani muscle. The same course material and the PowerPoint presentations used were converted to digital format and taught as an internet-based (IB) module without inclusion of a dissection lab. We compared the students’ performance at final assessment between DB vs. IB groups. Comparison between DB and IB groups revealed significantly (P