Anatomy Observational Outreach: A Multimodal Activity to Enhance Anatomical Education in Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Undergraduate students often have difficulty relating the Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) course to their future careers, which may lead to difficulties in graduate school. Thus, the purpose of the Anatomy Observational Outreach (AOO) was to help students make the connection and application between the information presented in A&P labs and real human cadaver, which could encourage students to pursue graduate degrees. The outreach consisted of 99 undergraduate A&P students from Texas Woman’s University in the biology, nursing, kinesiology, health studies, physical therapy, and occupational therapy departments. The methodology consisted of a 30-minute orientation, a graduate student panel, a Q&A session, a 60-minute cadaver observation, and Anatomage table demonstration, amongst others. The impact of AOO was measured by 10-question pre-tests and identical post-tests (1 point each) along with a survey at the end. The tests result demonstrated a significant increase [t(62)=-9.3, p=0.001] in anatomical knowledge. The survey results showed that out of 99 participants, 84% of the students interested in applying to graduate school, 32% of students felt that all of the teaching tools were useful, while 68% concluded the cadaver prosections were the most potent sole educational aid. 65% of the students were ethnic minorities, and 97% were gender minorities. We conclude that AOO yielded distinguished results in retention, and application of A&P knowledge, along with increased interest and excitement for pursuing a STEM and Allied Health degrees.