Applied Clinical Anatomy: The Successful Integration of Anatomy Into Specialty-Specific Senior Electives
Applied Clinical Anatomy: The Successful Integration of Anatomy Into Specialty-Specific Senior Electives
DOI 10.1007/s00276-016-1713-y
T E A CH I N G A N A T O M Y
Received: 6 November 2015 / Accepted: 9 June 2016 / Published online: 15 June 2016
Springer-Verlag France 2016
123
of hours devoted to were all implemented as a a curriculum focuses on
anatomy, which is usually response to the need for n common emergency
only taught during the pre- increased anatomical and d medicine pro- cedures, the
clinical years of medical musculoskeletal education relationship of critical
school [7]. Fur- thermore, in the medical school c anatomical structures, and
there is concern that curriculum. All five o procedural skills (Table 1).
medical students are courses are offered in the n The topics are first
t
entering the clinical years spring of the final year of discussed in lecture, and
e
ill prepared to transfer medical school just prior then reinforced both in the
n
anatom- ical knowledge to to students entering t anatomy and simulation
clinical scenarios [12]. In residency. We will laboratory settings. The
addition, stu- dents are describe the course anatomical dissections
All of the courses
failing to retain anatomical curricula and content, and supplement the clinical
emphasize the correlations
knowledge from the pre- evaluation data for these context for these
between anatomical
clinical years during their five courses. procedures.
concepts and clinical
clinical clerkships [10,
applications. The content
16]. Applied clinical
for each of these courses
Accordingly, there is M was created by both the anatomy: the
great potential to improve a physician and anatomical musculoskeletal
the delivery of anatomy t faculty course directors. system
education in medical e
school curricula. There is r This course was created
Applied clinical
increasing recognition of i with the goal of presenting
anatomy:
the importance of inte- a mus- culoskeletal
emergency
grating basic sciences, l anatomical concepts
medical
such as anatomy, into the s within the framework of
procedures
later parts of the medical clinical application. It is
school curriculum [9]. a co-taught by a basic
This course was designed
Cadaver dissection [11] n science fac- ulty from the
to prepare students for a
and other forms of d Division of Anatomical
career in emergency
anatomical instruction [5] Sciences and clinical
medicine, as well as other
have been utilized to faculty from the
m specialties that involve
integrate anatomical Department of Orthopedic
e procedural skills and
education in clinical Surgery. Fac- ulty from
t resuscitations. The course
contexts. multiple clinical
h provides focused
Developmentally, senior departments including
o instruction and guided
students have more mature anes- thesiology,
d practice of psychomotor
clinical reasoning and rheumatology, and
s and clinical decision-
analytical skills [19]. physical medicine and
making skills to strengthen
The purpose of this rehabilitation teach
C knowledge acquisition and
paper is to describe the sessions in this inter-
o retention of clinically
successful integration of disciplinary course that
u relevant medical pro-
anatomy into senior was first implemented in
r cedural skills and
medical student elec- tives s 2006. Each topic has
resuscitation. It is co-
at our institution. Five e lectures and anatomical
taught by a basic science
electives have been imple- data related to common
faculty from the Division
mented in the fields of c orthopedic problems,
of Anatomical Sciences
emergency medicine, u followed by a session
and clinical faculty from
musculoskeletal medicine, r incorporating the physical
the Department of
radiology, surgery, and r exam.
Emergency Medicine,
obstet- rics and i and was first
gynecology. These 4-week c Applied clinical
implemented in 2009.
courses all integrate u anatomy: anatomy
The
anatomical education in l meets radiology
clinical contexts. They a
The purpose of this course
is to review pertinent riculum utilizes multiple
clinical anatomy using modalities of teaching,
common radiology including anatomical
modalities that are sessions, to prepare
employed in daily practice medical students for the
by primary care and Accreditation Council of
subspe- cialty physicians. Graduate Medical
This course is the newest Education
of the senior electives, and
was first offered in 2015.
It is co-taught by a basic
science faculty from the
Division of Anatomical
Sciences and a clinical
faculty from the
Department of Radiology.
The course has a
multidisciplinary approach
with faculty not only from
Radiology and the
Department of Anatomy,
but also from orthopedic
surgery, otolaryn- gology,
emergency medicine,
pathology and
neurosurgery. The
curriculum is structured to
emphasize a case-based
approach to radiology and
pertinent clinical anatomy
uti- lizing small group
sessions. The mornings
are spent in case-based
sessions, and the afternoon
sessions are a combination
of anatomical dissections
in the lab with
demonstration of common
procedures, simulation
training on high-fidelity
phantoms, and time in
the radiology reading
room for students to apply
their knowledge.
Advanced
clinical skills
course in
obstetrics and
gynecology
Table 1 Anatomical topics and their clinical correlations for each of the five anatomical electives offered to fourth-year medical students at the
University of Michigan
Course Anatomical topics Clinical correlations
ACA: musculoskeletal system Anatomy of the shoulder, axillae, arm, Surgical approaches for clavicle, humerus, cubital tunnel
elbow, forearm, wrists and hands release, Dupytren’s contracture
Upper extremity (UE) radiology
Physical exam of the shoulder and hand
UE entrapment and compartment syndromes
UE joint injections
Anatomy of the lower extremity (LE), Physical exam of the hip and knee
foot, ankle LE entrapment and compartment syndromes
Surgical approaches to the hip
Below knee amputations
Anatomy of the spine Physical exam of the spine
Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) considerations
EMG imaging
Spine imaging
Anesthesiology and pain management
Anatomy of the neck and chest Needle thoracentesis, chest tube placement, cricothyroidotomy,
tracheostomy
ACA: emergency medical Anatomy of the thorax, heart, lungs Resuscitation and trauma evaluation Radiology of
procedures and mediastinum. Anatomy review emergency medical procedures Simulation lab:
of cardiovascular system
airway procedures, IV placement,
pericardiocentesis, thoracentesis
Anatomy of the head and neck Radiology of head and neck and emergency neuroradiology
Sedation
Simulation lab: head, eyes, ears, nose, throat (HEENT)
procedures, suture and wound closure
Anatomy of the spine Fractures, dislocations and reductions
Common pain syndromes, PM&R considerations
Anatomy of the lower extremity (LE) Compartment syndrome
Anatomy of the upper extremity (UE) Brachial plexus
Anatomy of the gastrointestinal (GI) Radiology of GI and genito-urinary systems
tract
ACA: radiology Anatomy of the heart and lungs X-ray and CT of the chest
Chest pathology (pneumothorax, hemothorax, effusions,
tamponade, fractures, congestive heart failure, pneumonia,
oncology, and trauma)
Simulation lab: thoracentesis, vascular access
Anatomy of the GI/GU Imaging of the GI and GU tract
Abdominal pathologies (liver, ascites, gall bladder, large and
small bowel, renal stones, abscesses, hemorrhage, and
oncology)
Simulation lab: paracentesis
Anatomy of the UE Brachial plexus
Imaging of UE: bone and joint pathologies
Anatomy of the LE Imaging of LE: bone and joint pathologies
Compartment syndromes
Anatomy of the spine Imaging of the spine
Simulation lab: Lumbar puncture
Anatomy of head and brain Imaging of head and neck
Neuro-spine pathologies: herniated nucleus pulposus, stenosis,
trauma, oncology, stroke, cerebral palsy
Table 1 continued
Course Anatomical topics Clinical correlations
Advanced clinical skills in Abdominal pelvic anatomy Operative anatomy: Bilateral tubal ligation,
obstetrics and gynecology salpingo-oophorectomy, total abdominal hysterectomy
Perineal anatomy Operative anatomy: laceration and episiotomy repair
Surgery resident prep course Head and neck anatomy Operative anatomy: cricothyroidotomy, tracheostomy, central
line placement; Simulation model: cricothyroidotomy,
central line placement, intubation
Vascular anatomy Operative anatomy: femoral artery exposure, below knee
amputation, above knee amputation, central venous line
placement
Thorax anatomy Operative anatomy: chest tube placement, thoracotomy,
pericardiocentesis; Simulation model: chest tube placement
Abdominal anatomy Operative anatomy: exploratory laparotomy, bowel resection
and anastomosis, cholecystectomy, appendectomy
Musculoskeletal anatomy Operative anatomy: fasciotomy of lower extremity, above knee
amputation, below knee amputation, inguinal hernia repair,
skin lesion excision
(ACGME) intern milestones competencies. These compe- Course evaluations and knowledge assessments
tencies include knowledge of abdominal and pelvic anat-
omy. A faculty from the Division of Anatomical Sciences The three Applied Clinical Anatomy courses utilize pre-
teaches cadaveric dissection on the topics of pelvic viscera, and post-course assessments on physical examination,
pelvic vasculature and nerves, and perineal anatomy. Fac- anatomical knowledge, and radiology. Questions for these
ulty and house officers from the Department of Obstetrics three assessments come from a question bank comprised of
and Gynecology facilitate 8 h of fresh cadaver intern-level questions created by the American Association of Anato-
procedures. mists (AAA), from Bernstein et al. [6] and from a question
bank co-developed by one of the course directors (JZ). The
Surgery resident prep course Advanced Clinical Skills Course in Obstetrics and Gyne-
cology utilizes pre- and post-course assessments of
The objective of this course is to prepare senior year anatomical knowledge that was developed by the faculty
medical students for residency in a surgical specialty. This from the Division of Anatomical Sciences. Means for the
course utilizes many components of the American College pre-and post-course assessments were compared utilizing
of Surgeons/Association of Program Directors in Surgery/ paired t tests. The Surgery Residency prep course is not
Association of Surgical Education Resident Prep Cur- currently utilizing an assessment of anatomical knowledge
riculum [1] and includes senior medical students who in its course. Improvements in anatomical and procedural
have applied for residency positions in general surgery, knowledge following the operative anatomy week have
vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, and plastic sur- previously been described from this course [21]. IRB
gery. Anatomy is included in this course with a combi- exemption was obtained from our institution for all aspects
nation of didactic lectures, simulation sessions, and of this paper.
human cadaver dissection taught by surgery and anatomy
faculty. The focus of the didactic lectures includes applied
clinical anatomy as it relates to common operative pro- Results
cedures encountered during the first years of surgical
residency (Table 1) and includes cadaver dissection dis- Evaluation of the courses is based on three levels of the
playing normal anatomy relevant to these surgical pro- modified Kirkpatrick’s evaluation pyramid [14]. The five
cedures. The operative anatomy week is the primary courses have been extremely popular electives at our
anatomy component of the curriculum in which students medical school. The three Applied Clinical Anatomy
perform operative procedures on fresh cadavers. The electives have been taken by 154 students going into
procedures are proctored by surgery and anatomy faculty diverse specialties including emergency medicine, internal
in groups of three to four students. Students perform each medicine, pediatrics, anesthesia, and radiology. The Sur-
procedure with a focus on anatomic clinical relevance as gery Resident Prep course has been taken by 135 total
it relates to the procedure. students since 2008. This course has been reserved only for
Table 2 Student comments from evaluations for each of the five anatomical electives offered to fourth-year medical students at the University of
Michigan
Course Comments
students entering the fields of general surgery, vascular Students have marked improvement in anatomical
surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, and plastic surgery. Of knowledge after completion of these five courses. Pre- and
note, many other students have expressed interest in this post-course knowledge assessment results are presented in
course but have not been able to enroll due to lack of Table 3. For the three Applied Clinical Anatomy courses,
available space. The Advanced Clinical Skills in Obstetrics the numbers reported are the means and standard devia-
and Gynecology course is reserved for students applying in tions for the Anatomy Knowledge component of the pre-
obstetrics and gynecology residencies, and has been taken and post-course assessments. The results reported for the
by 44 students since 2013. Of note, 46 students have Advanced Clinical skills in Obstetrics and Gynecology
entered obstetrics and gynecology residencies since 2013, course are the means and standard deviations for the
and only two of these students elected not to take the Anatomy knowledge assessments.
course. As a measure of dissemination, the implementation and
The course evaluations (learner satisfaction) for these analysis of these five courses have provided academic
courses have been extremely positive. See Table 2 for scholarship opportunities for the faculty involved. The
student comments from the five electives. Students faculty have published manuscripts about curriculum
specifically noted how these courses allowed them the development [15, 20], musculoskeletal knowledge [18],
opportunity to integrate basic anatomical knowledge into and procedural knowledge improvement [21]. There have
clinical contexts. Many students commented on how these also been numerous abstract presentations pertaining to
electives were the best courses in their medical school these five courses at Anatomical, Medical Education, and
experience. Subspecialty-specific National Meetings.
Table 3 Mean scores achieved on knowledge assessments for three of the anatomical electives offered to fourth-year medical students at the
University of Michigan
Course Pre-coursec Post-coursec P value
Applied clinical anatomy: emergency medical procedures 45.95 ± 12.77 77.78 ± 11.60 \0.001
(data available for years 2010–2013, n = 47)a
Applied clinical anatomy: the musculoskeletal system 56.93 ± 14.60 89.50 ± 8.86 \0.001
(data available for years 2009–2013, n = 40)a
Advanced clinical skills in obstetrics and gynecology 67.33 ± 18.19 80.67 ± 16.59 \0.001
(data available for years 2013–2016, n = 36)b
a
Data are from the Anatomical Knowledge component of the Knowledge Assessment used in the Applied Clinical Anatomy courses
b
Data are from an Anatomy Knowledge Assessment that was created uniquely for the Advanced Clinical Skills in Obstetrics and Gynecology
course
c
Data reported as mean ± standard deviation