Exploring students’ understanding of structured practical anatomy

OBJECTIVES: The shift from the traditional curriculum to an integrated organ and system-based one has fragmented anatomy courses. Thus, it has become necessary to implement a structured active learning process for the practical teaching of anatomy. We achieved this goal by using an innovative teaching strategy for practical sessions called structured practical anatomy (SPA). We aimed to document the use of SPA for teaching practical anatomy and to evaluate students’ perceptions of it. METHODS: We subdivided the students into 10 small groups, which we then assigned to structured stations with different teaching modalities. Finally, we administered the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire to assess the students’ perceptions of their learning. RESULTS: Out of 48 items, our study showed a mean total score of 32 ± 7 (out of 48). We classified the students into four categories according to each student's total score; 56.76% of the students had a score of 25–36 in the ‘positive’ category range, 27% in the ‘excellent’ category (37–48), 15% in the ‘negative’ category (13–24) and 0.5% in the ‘very poor’ category (below 12). Two items on the questionnaire (13–47) were strongly positive items (greater than 3 out of 4), whereas other items were in the positive medium range (2–3 out of 4). CONCLUSIONS: SPA is an effective tool that plays a vital role in enhancing the teaching of practical anatomy. This teaching pedagogy offers an innovation in teaching and learning anatomy. Additionally, the results of the students’ perceptions of their learning reflect areas that require further exploration to boost the effectiveness of teaching methods.