title: Practical training on porcine hearts enhances students' knowledge of human cardiac anatomy.
abstract: Historically, cadavers have been used for the study of anatomy. Nowadays, the territorial and legal limitations of this approach have led to the introduction of alternative teaching methods such as the use of practical exercise consisting of dissection and observation of animal organs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of practical training on animal organs compared with the traditional method of anatomy teaching, based on the dissection of human cadavers. In this study, we seek to demonstrate the usefulness of practical exercise on animal organs. This practical training was held a week after the series of lectures, thus leaving time for the students to learn and understand the topics discussed. Immediately after the lecture, all of the students completed a preliminary test to assess the immediate effect of the lecture. Immediately before the practical exercise, both control and experimental groups completed a second test to assess the effectiveness of personal study. Immediately after practical training, a third test was completed by the experimental group and the control group (no practical activity on animal organs) to highlight the added value of hands-on practice in addition to the lecture. Data obtained from statistical analysis showed a p<0.05 (control group vs. experimental group) only for the third test as expected, highlighting significant differences in anatomy learning between control and experimental groups. Thus, the results of this study emphasize the utility of practical training on animal organs in learning and understanding anatomy, considering the limitations of the use of cadavers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Medical Science, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Italy. Electronic address: g.musumeci@unict.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Musumeci
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Medical Science, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loreto
authors.affiliation: Department G.F. Ingrassia, Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Venera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mazzone
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Medical Science, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Marta Anna
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Szychlinska
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Medical Science, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castrogiovanni
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Medical Science, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castorina
mesh_terms: D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education*; D000818:Animals; D004210:Dissection / Q000193:education*; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006653:Histology / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010496:Pericardium / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D013552:Swine; D016707:Tissue Fixation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anatomy dissection; Anatomy learning; Anatomy teaching; Gross anatomy education; Histology; Resident anatomy education; Undergraduate anatomy medical education