title: Anatomy meets dentistry! Linking anatomy and clinical practice in the preclinical dental curriculum.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Establishing a strong link early on between preclinical coursework and the clinical context is necessary for students to be able to recognize the practical relevance of the curriculum during their preclinical anatomical courses and to transfer knowledge more easily. Our objective was to enhance the clinical relevance of a preclinical anatomy course for second-year medical students of dentistry by implementing an interdisciplinary skills training course on "Palpation of the Head and Neck Muscles" and to measure the learning outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  For the curricular development of the expanded course module, Kern's 6-step approach was applied including subjective evaluation. We used a peer-teaching format supported by an e-learning application. A randomized control study measured effects of the two components (skills training, e-module) on learning outcomes. Four learning methods were compared: (1) lecture, (2) lecture + e-module, (3) lecture + skills training, (4) lecture + skills training + e-module. An objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) was used to measure and compare learning outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two-way variance analysis demonstrated that participation in the skills training had a statistically significant effect on the OSCE results (p = 0.0007). Students who participated in the skills training did better (φ 107.4 ± 14.4 points) than students who only attended the lecture (φ 88.8 ± 26.2 points). Students who used the e-module but did not attend the skills training earned a slightly but not significantly higher average number of points (φ 91.8 ± 31.3 points) than those who only attended the lecture. The learning outcomes of the skills training were again significantly increased when the training was combined with the e-module (φ 121.8 ± 21.8 points), thus making it the ideal method for achieving the learning objectives defined in this study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The "Palpation of the Head and Neck Muscles" interdisciplinary skills training course linking basic anatomical knowledge and clinical skills led to clearly improved learning outcomes for both, anatomical knowledge and clinical skills. The additional use of an e-learning tool (e-module) improved the learning effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics and Biomaterials, Center for Implantology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen, 52074, Germany.|Present address: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen, 52074, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rafai
authors.affiliation: Audiovisual Media Center, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen, 52074, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lemos
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of Applied Sciences Stralsund, Zur Schwedenschanze 15, Stralsund, 18435, Germany.
authors.forename: Lieven Nils
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Kennes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Anatomy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Wendlingweg 2, Aachen, 52074, Germany.
authors.forename: Ayichah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hawari
authors.affiliation: Department of Operative Dentistry, Center for Dentistry and Oral Medicine (Carolinum), Medical Faculty, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, Frankfurt am Main, 60596, Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gerhardt-Szép
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Anatomy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Wendlingweg 2, Aachen, 52074, Germany. iclassen-linke@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Irmgard
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1146-1585
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Classen-Linke
mesh_terms: D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D003479:Curriculum; D004497:Education, Dental; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010808:Physical Examination; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical; D013663:Teaching
keywords: Anatomy; Clinical skills; Dentistry; E-learning; Interdisciplinarity; Learning outcomes; OSCE; Peer-teaching; Randomized controlled trial