Centre for Health Professions Education

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Browsing Centre for Health Professions Education by Subject "Anatomy students -- Attitudes"

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    Learning cross-sectional anatomy using ultrasound: perspectives of undergraduate clinical anatomy students
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Correia, Janine Carla; McNamee, Lakshini S.; Meyer, Ilse S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Centre for Health Professions Education.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Ultrasound (US) is increasingly used across the medical specialities as a diagnostic tool and as a result, medical faculties are being advised to further incorporate imaging into their programmes. Using US within undergraduate instruction has several benefits. The use of US, as a learning instrument, may strengthen existing anatomical knowledge and improve visual understanding of anatomy. The cost-effectiveness, as well as portability of the US, makes it a valuable means to add-on to traditional anatomy teaching modalities. Furthermore, students may develop skills in interpreting US images and ultrasound may add a different element to the study of anatomy. The literature clearly shows evidence of the benefits of US in teaching anatomy, as well as the fact that anatomy educators can be trained by clinicians to incorporate US during dissection sessions. The value of US is evident from published works and will be worth investigating in the undergraduate setting. Furthermore, although US training may not always improve students’ performances, it may lead to increased interest in learning anatomy for enhanced clinical practice. The study aimed to explore undergraduate clinical anatomy students’ perceptions on the use of ultrasound as an add-on to cadaveric dissection in the Division of Clinical Anatomy. The study population included the third-year undergraduate clinical anatomy students (25 students) at Stellenbosch University. The research question was aimed at obtaining students’ perceptions about their views on the use of US in teaching and learning anatomy. To answer the research question, students were invited to participate in virtual focus group interviews. Three virtual focus group interviews were held following the US session with three to five participants in each; 11 participants volunteered to take part in the virtual focus groups. The thematic analysis of the data obtained from the virtual focus groups was conducted and six themes were generated from the data. The six main themes are the study of living anatomy, learning cross-sectional anatomy, enhanced relevance of anatomy learning, increased interest in anatomy, instructional design and the affective and technical experience of using US. The research demonstrated that it is feasible and advantageous to implement US sessions as an add-on to the teaching of anatomy during practical dissection sessions of undergraduate clinical anatomy students. The use of innovative technologies like US enhances the interest of students and allows them to develop dexterity and competencies in their learning process.