100 - Introduction of a Digital, Multimedia Resource for Teaching Neuroanatomy in Medical Education

Poster Board Number: 100
There are separate poster presentation times for odd and even posters.
Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Abstract Body : Anatomical knowledge forms the basis for the practice of medicine. However, a reduction in curricular hours can make the acquisition of such information difficult for medical students. The decrease in hours devoted to anatomy extends to neuroscience and neuroanatomy—notoriously challenging subjects. Although decreased hours have facilitated the development of integrated curricula, this presents new challenges in ensuring schools meet anatomical competencies during preclinical coursework. At the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, the challenge of reduced curricular time is compounded by disparate learning resources spread across paper guides, PowerPoints, external websites, videos, readings, and online self-assessments. While multiple modalities should be maintained to ensure accessibility, the diversity of learning materials is often overwhelming and can contribute to resource fatigue or excessive cognitive load. To address this problem, we converted our printed neuroanatomy lab guide and accompanying resources into a single, interactive multimedia iBook and offered it as an alternative resource for students in 2022. To assess the effectiveness of this new resource, we compared practical exam scores and collected feedback through a post-course survey. Overall, we found no significant difference in the mean exam scores between students who reported utilizing the iBook as their primary resource and those who did not (85% versus 82%; p=0.41). However, survey data (n=59; 87% response rate) show that learners preferred the iBook to the printed guide (i.e., 88% of respondents strongly agreed with the statement “I preferred the format of the iBook to that of the printed guide”), found it more visually appealing (94%), and strongly agreed that it made the lab experience more efficient (94%). These results highlight the utility of an integrated digital resource and offer insight into how medical educators can make the limited time for teaching as efficient as possible while still appealing to learners.