Clinicians’ and Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes Regarding the Anatomical Knowledge of Medical Students

BACKGROUND: In both the preclinical and clinical sciences, anatomy is considered as the foundation of medical education. Anatomy education serves as a foundation for clinical application and future practice of medicine. Health practitioners and students are interested in the adequacy of anatomical knowledge in clinical years since it has a direct impact on medical education and professional clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: To examine the opinions and attitudes of medical students and clinicians regarding the preclinical and clinical years’ teaching of anatomy and anatomical knowledge to medical students. METHODS: Participants in the study, including clinicians and medical students, were required to answer an 8-question, 5-point Likert scale questionnaire to assess their attitudes regarding anatomical knowledge. The maximum score was 40, and the higher the score, the more the positive attitude towards anatomical knowledge. The difference in the mean attitude score between males and females was investigated using the Independent sample t-test. RESULTS: A total of 327 clinicians and 423 students participated in the study. Clinicians and students showed moderately high positive attitude towards anatomical knowledge. The mean statements score for clinicians’ attitudes was 31.4(±3.4). There was no significant difference between total attitude score means for clinicians and students, p=0.83. Attitude statements attained a significantly higher percentages and were in favor to clinicians in comparison to students, particularly for clinical significance of anatomical knowledge to students in the clinical years, the importance of anatomical knowledge to surgical and non-surgical specialties, and re-teaching special anatomy for students in the clinical years would improve their clinical background. Both clinicians and students expressed low agreement regarding anatomical educational style and quality of study materials. CONCLUSION: Teaching anatomy to medical students is a continuous process. Therefore, we recommend reforming the anatomy curriculum by vertical integration of anatomy into the clinical rotations, clerkship, and specialist training.