34 - In an Online Anatomy Course, Does Previous Anatomy Experience Help?

Poster Board Number: 34
There are separate poster presentation times for odd and even posters.
Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Abstract Body : Introduction and Objective: Students entering allied health professional programs will be required to take courses in the basic sciences. Of those courses, anatomy is common to all healthcare programs, however, few programs require anatomy as a prerequisite course. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the experience of those with previous anatomy experience to those without in an online anatomy class.

Materials and Methods: An anatomy course for allied heath students (Pharmacy and respiratory therapy (RT)) that included an in-person cadaveric laboratory was modified for online delivery. The laboratory component utilized cadaveric images presented by the instructor and breakout rooms for small group discussion to simulate in-person anatomy laboratory experiences. Upon completion of the online course, students (n=35) completed a questionnaire containing Likert scale and open-ended questions regarding online anatomy learning. Questions related to previous anatomy experience, cadaveric images presented, breakout room use and online instruction were used to evaluate the student experience of an online anatomy laboratory.

Results: Survey results demonstrated that roughly 50% of students had previously taken anatomy before coming to professional school. Those students taking anatomy for the first time enjoyed the virtual modality (3.4 ±0.20) more than students that have taken it before (3.11 ±0.26). Both groups however, found virtual labs helpful in learning anatomy (3.75±0.20 and 3.78±0.28 respectively). Interestingly students that have taken anatomy before rated the independent anatomy sessions higher with the exception of the first session, the nervous system. Both groups rated the use of cadaveric images highly appropriate for the virtual anatomy labs and students having taken anatomy previously giving a higher rating (4.56±0.18 and 4.30±0.18 respectively). For the breakout rooms, students with previous anatomy experience found the small group sessions more helpful compared to their peers’ learning anatomy for the first time (3.25±0.31 and 2.95±0.21 respectively).

Conclusion and Significance: Many students entering into the healthcare profession have previous human anatomy learning experience. Those with an anatomy background found an online anatomy course helpful and highly rated the various learning sessions compared to those without. Therefore, an online learning modality for anatomy for allied health students may be more conducive to those that have previous anatomy experience.