109 - Student Study Strategies After a Shift to Prosection and Virtual Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Poster Board Number: 109
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Abstract Body : Introduction and Objective
There has long been discussion about the effectiveness of prosection versus dissection in learning anatomy. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted many institutions’ curricula. At Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), there was a shift from dissection to prosection-based learning due to social distancing requirements and body donor shortages. The purpose of this study was to explore how student utilization of resources, including time spent studying in the anatomy laboratory, changed with this shift, and its relationship to course performance.

Materials and Methods
The Organ Systems 1 course (OS1) at MSM covered Back, Upper Limb, Thorax, and Abdomen. During the 2021-22 Academic year, the anatomy curriculum included prosection-based learning with virtual exams composed of questions primarily from in-house laboratory videos. A survey was sent out to all first year (MD1) students (n=113) at MSM after the conclusion of the OS1 course. This survey included questions about laboratory attendance and primary study strategies, including viewing laboratory videos (VV) or screenshots of videos (VSV) and/or studying in the anatomy laboratory with donors (AL). Qualitative feedback on study strategies was also collected. Independent t-tests were run to determine if significant differences existed between study strategy and exam performance.

Results
Thirty-eight students (33.6%) responded to the survey. All but one student (97.1%) reported attending scheduled laboratory sessions. Students reported studying from VV (n=34, 89.5%), VSV (n=26, 68.4%), and/or in the AL (n=9, 23.7%). There were no significant differences in practical examination (PE) performance between students who did or did not report studying from VV or VSV. Differences in exam performance approached significance (P = 0.051) between students who did (n=9, mean: 96.0%  3.6) and did not (n=29, mean: 91.1%  8.5) report studying in the AL for the Back and Upper Limb PE. Primary reasons for studying from VV and VSV related to the exam and quiz format being primarily from videos. The AL was utilized primarily to gain a more thorough understanding of structures.

Conclusion
Spending time studying in the AL likely impacts student learning, even when examinations are virtual. Results will be compared to the 2022-23 academic year where students have returned to dissection-based learning and in-person PE.

Significance/Implication
These results are important when considering study strategies for student success in prosection-based and virtual learning in comparison to dissection-based learning.

Funding Sources
Grant sponsor: U.S. Department of Education, Grant Number P03-1B141018