![]() Donors who screened negative for COVID-19 prior to death is not sufficient to rule out infection. Īs long as programs choose to use cadavers, regardless of whether they utilize a dissection or prosection based laboratory component, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has elicited real impacts in many departments about the safety of continued body donation programs. Others claim that cadavers can be dispensed altogether and replaced by other contexts, such as an earlier introduction to medical imaging. Some note that prosection is sufficient but dissection experience is necessary in preparation for the anatomical medical specialties. ![]() Prosection has also been shown to be a very effective method of learning gross anatomy. However, some argue that student learning of anatomy is not dependent on dissection. Engaging in dissection allows the student to understand relational anatomy that may be difficult to conceptualize through prosections and virtual learning platforms. Many studies strongly advocate dissection as the preferred learning method. Historically, cadaveric dissection has played the major role in disseminating anatomy curriculum to medical students. The classic subject of debate is whether learning gross anatomy is best accomplished through prosection or dissection-based courses. ![]() Cadavers have been used as the main instructional tools in gross anatomy for hundreds of years and as such most laboratory components center around their usage. The traditional medical anatomy course is divided into two major components, consisting of a didactic lecture and a dissection-focused laboratory session. A concrete understanding of anatomy has been acknowledged to be important for safe clinical practice and fundamental for teaching problem solving. Gross anatomy is one of the first classes medical students usually take during their career but it is also a foundational aspect of future clinical practice. We propose that the utilization of course materials that students perceived as time saving and pertinent to their exam performance, when combined with cadaveric prosection, emphasized the benefits of flipped-classroom learning to help students learn gross anatomy effectively and efficiently during the pandemic and beyond. When comparing performance data between 2019 (pre-COVID) and 2020 students, we found that the students who took the anatomy course during the onset of COVID had a slightly higher overall average score in all three modules of the course than compared to the 2019 students. Students within all focus groups overwhelmingly touted the value of Zoom recitation sessions, with many stating that they were imperative to course success. However, laboratory guides were used mostly for post-lab review as opposed to the intended direction during laboratory sessions. Data from both the survey and focus groups demonstrated that the vast majority of students agreed that the materials helped them navigate through learning gross anatomy. We performed a grounded theory thematic analysis of students’ responses (80/160, 50% response) to qualitative survey questions and to focus group questions (16 students who self-selected between 4 different sessions). Course materials were developed for three purposes: (1) preparation before laboratory sessions (orientation videos and Complete Anatomy (3D4Medical, Elsevier) screens) (2) guidance during laboratory sessions (laboratory guides) and (3) review after laboratory sessions (Zoom recitation sessions). This study investigates the effectiveness of new course materials developed to aid these curriculum changes. We replaced cadaveric dissection activities with prosections and placed a greater emphasis on a flipped classroom model. Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) is one such institution that temporarily restructured its course. Medical institutions have been forced to modify gross anatomy pedagogy to comply with the health restrictions imposed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
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