Modernization of an anatomy class: From conceptualization to implementation. A case for integrated multimodal-multidisciplinary teaching.
It has become increasingly apparent that no single method for teaching anatomy is able to provide supremacy over another. In an effort to consolidate and enhance learning, a modernized anatomy curriculum was devised by attempting to take advantage of and maximize the benefits from different teaching methods. Both the more traditional approaches to anatomy teaching, as well as modern, innovative educational programs were embraced in a multimodal system implemented over a decade. In this effort, traditional teaching with lectures and dissection was supplemented with models, imaging, computer-assisted learning, problem-based learning through clinical cases, surface anatomy, clinical correlation lectures, peer teaching and team-based learning. Here, we review current thinking in medical education and present our transition from a passive, didactic, highly detailed anatomy course of the past, to a more interactive, as well as functionally and clinically relevant anatomy curriculum over the course of a decade.
Department of Anatomy, National and Kapodestrian University of Athens, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Greece. elizabethojohnson@gmail.com
Elizabeth O
EO
Johnson
Antonia V
AV
Charchanti
Theodore G
TG
Troupis
D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education*; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003479:Curriculum; D004210:Dissection; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007858:Learning; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012922:Social Change; D013337:Students, Medical; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration