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Anatomy faculties are integral to basic science instruction in medical schools, particularly given the preponderance of anatomic instruction in the preclinical curriculum. Recent years have witnessed major curricular restructuring and other emerging national trends that pose significant challenges to anatomists. An examination of anatomy faculty perceptions at two philosophically distinct medical schools within this shifting climate provides an indicator of how different institutional characteristics may impact anatomy instruction and other faculty responsibilities. Semistructured interviews of anatomy faculty from a large, well-established allopathic medical school (Indiana University School of Medicine) and a small, new osteopathic medical school (Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine) were explored using qualitative thematic analysis. Four overarching themes were identified: (1) Institutional philosophies, such as affiliation with osteopathic versus allopathic medicine, have minimal impact on how the anatomical sciences are taught. (2) Differences in anatomy faculty experiences at these two institutions are largely driven by the institution's size and history. There is a disparity between institutions in the relative importance of teaching and research, but an ability to do research is important for both faculties. (3) Anatomy instruction and research agendas are driven by personal philosophies and interests rather than institutional philosophy. (4) Autonomy is highly valued by anatomists at both institutions. All the participants share a devotion to educating future physicians. In fact, this study identified more similarities than differences in these two faculties. Finally, we argue that shared educational resources and research collaborations can improve anatomy education and faculty development at both institutions. Anat Sci Educ 9: 255-264. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.

The use of quick response (QR) codes within undergraduate university courses is on the rise, yet literature concerning their use in medical education is scant. This study examined student perceptions on the usefulness of QR codes as learning aids in a medical gross anatomy course, statistically analyzed whether this learning aid impacted student performance, and evaluated whether performance could be explained by the frequency of QR code usage. Question prompts and QR codes tagged on cadaveric specimens and models were available for four weeks as learning aids to medical (n = 155) and doctor of physical therapy (n = 39) students. Each QR code provided answers to posed questions in the form of embedded text or hyperlinked web pages. Students' perceptions were gathered using a formative questionnaire and practical examination scores were used to assess potential gains in student achievement. Overall, students responded positively to the use of QR codes in the gross anatomy laboratory as 89% (57/64) agreed the codes augmented their learning of anatomy. The users' most noticeable objection to using QR codes was the reluctance to bring their smartphones into the gross anatomy laboratory. A comparison between the performance of QR code users and non-users was found to be nonsignificant (P = 0.113), and no significant gains in performance (P = 0.302) were observed after the intervention. Learners welcomed the implementation of QR code technology in the gross anatomy laboratory, yet this intervention had no apparent effect on practical examination performance. Anat Sci Educ 8: 421–428. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.

Introduction Students studying to practice medicine require a comprehensive introduction to the endocrine and integumentary systems coupled with sufficient clinical material to illustrate the relevance of this topic in practice. This team-based learning (TBL) module is one of ten modules in a four credit-hour course entitled Basic Histology, which is intended primarily for graduate students seeking entry into medical school. It is taught with the same depth and rigor as the first-year medical histology course at our institution, and in many ways is the equivalent course. Methods Students begin the session having completed assigned readings and a corresponding laboratory session. Students first take a 10-question individual readiness assurance test (iRAT). They then retake this test in groups of five to seven students, to complete the group readiness assurance test (gRAT). Students then stay in these groups as they work through a series of application exercises. Results When administered to 24 students in 2014, the class scores for the iRAT and gRAT were 91.2% and 100.0%, respectively. They scored 88.0% on the group application exercise. Further, 70.8% of students agreed or strongly agreed with the following “Overall, I feel the TBL sessions helped my course grade.” Discussion The students take the TBL process seriously, rarely miss the sessions and seem to feel an obligation to their teammates. They study the relevant learning materials) prior to coming to class, and they demonstrate a good understanding of the subject matter, as evidenced by their iRAT scores. The students also demonstrate effective teamwork, as evidence by their gRAT scores and, more importantly, their performance on the group application exercises.

Anatomy faculties are integral to basic science instruction in medical schools, particularly given the preponderance of anatomic instruction in the preclinical curriculum. Recent years have witnessed major curricular restructuring and other emerging national trends that pose significant challenges to anatomists. An examination of anatomy faculty perceptions at two philosophically distinct medical schools within this shifting climate provides an indicator of how different institutional characteristics may impact anatomy instruction and other faculty responsibilities. Semistructured interviews of anatomy faculty from a large, well-established allopathic medical school (Indiana University School of Medicine) and a small, new osteopathic medical school (Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine) were explored using qualitative thematic analysis. Four overarching themes were identified: (1) Institutional philosophies, such as affiliation with osteopathic versus allopathic medicine, have minimal impact on how the anatomical sciences are taught. (2) Differences in anatomy faculty experiences at these two institutions are largely driven by the institution's size and history. There is a disparity between institutions in the relative importance of teaching and research, but an ability to do research is important for both faculties. (3) Anatomy instruction and research agendas are driven by personal philosophies and interests rather than institutional philosophy. (4) Autonomy is highly valued by anatomists at both institutions. All the participants share a devotion to educating future physicians. In fact, this study identified more similarities than differences in these two faculties. Finally, we argue that shared educational resources and research collaborations can improve anatomy education and faculty development at both institutions. Anat Sci Educ 9: 255-264. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.

Background & Purpose This review investigated the thematic nature of articles most commonly published in Anatomical Sciences Education (ASE) so as to propose a research agenda that identifies under...

The use of quick response (QR) codes within undergraduate university courses is on the rise, yet literature concerning their use in medical education is scant. This study examined student perceptions on the usefulness of QR codes as learning aids in a medical gross anatomy course, statistically analyzed whether this learning aid impacted student performance, and evaluated whether performance could be explained by the frequency of QR code usage. Question prompts and QR codes tagged on cadaveric specimens and models were available for four weeks as learning aids to medical (n = 155) and doctor of physical therapy (n = 39) students. Each QR code provided answers to posed questions in the form of embedded text or hyperlinked web pages. Students' perceptions were gathered using a formative questionnaire and practical examination scores were used to assess potential gains in student achievement. Overall, students responded positively to the use of QR codes in the gross anatomy laboratory as 89% (57/64) agreed the codes augmented their learning of anatomy. The users' most noticeable objection to using QR codes was the reluctance to bring their smartphones into the gross anatomy laboratory. A comparison between the performance of QR code users and non-users was found to be nonsignificant (P = 0.113), and no significant gains in performance (P = 0.302) were observed after the intervention. Learners welcomed the implementation of QR code technology in the gross anatomy laboratory, yet this intervention had no apparent effect on practical examination performance.