Document Type

Abstract

Publication Title

The FASEB Journal

Abstract

Introduction/Objective

Covid-19 created challenges to anatomy education, particularly gross anatomy given the traditional in-person format of lectures and lab. The objective of this study was to assess the changes in lecture methods and lab materials used in anatomy courses that ran between May-August (T1) and August-December (T2) 2020 responding to Covid-19 restrictions.

Materials/Methods

A survey was distributed to anatomy educators through professional associations from June-November 2020. Respondents indicated (1) their institution; (2) programs taught (professional health (PH), medicine (MED), or undergraduate (UG)); (3) course type (integrated or stand-alone); (4) percentage of lab time before and during Covid-19 that utilized cadaveric, plastic, and/or other teaching materials; and (5) lecture format. Institutions were classified as public or private via institution websites. Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Bonferroni correction compared responses before and during Covid-19 across programs, course type, and institution. Data are presented as percent increase (+value) or decrease (-value). Alpha<5%.

Results

T1 and T2 received 67 and 191 responses, respectively. During T1 and T2, cadaver use decreased in PH (-58% & -28%), MED (-55% & -34%), and UG (-57% & -55%) programs (P≤0.045); stand-alone (-58% & -33%,P0.05), except UG decreased plastic usage during T2 (-20%; P=0.033). During T1 and T2, use of other teaching materials increased in PH (+1180% & +278%), MED (+385% & +1000%), and UG (+285% & +246%) (P≤0.015); stand-alone (+920% & +540%, P

Conclusion

Reduction in cadaver use and in-person lecture were most pronounced in T1, but remained diminished through both time points, suggesting a shift from the initial pandemic response to teaching to more complex hybrid programs as regulations permitted.

Significance/Implication

This study provides evidence to better understand how anatomy educators adapted their gross anatomy teaching due to Covid-19 across programs. In addition, this study provides first of its kind insight into how anatomy was taught across programs prior to Covid-19. Future studies need to determine whether the findings characterized here were pandemic-based or if they represent long-term changes for anatomy education.

DOI

10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.S1.02047

Publication Date

5-14-2021

Keywords

COVID-19, gross anatomy education, integrated curriculum, laboratory, medical education, online anatomy, remote teaching, stand-alone courses, virtual anatomy

ISSN

1530-6860

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