A Patient-Based Workshop in Anatomy for First Year Medical Students

Summary

Teaching in anatomy is still largely based on either ‘tradition’ or ‘technology’. Early exposure to patients is often perceived to be too difficult or inappropriate for first year medical undergraduates and real patients are seldom used as the focus for teaching functional anatomy.

This paper outlines the development of a patient-based workshop in anatomy for first year medical students at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. The workshop is conducted using principles of adult learning theory and problem based learning and serves as a nodal point in the curriculum to draw together many facets of student knowledge and learning in a holistic way. The students interact in small groups with real patients who have chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. They are asked to define a clinical anatomical problem relating to the upper limb using simple history and examination skills. They then interpret their findings in terms of location of the problem, the structures involved and the specific functional and social consequences for the patient.

It has proven to be feasible to mount the workshop for a large first year class of medical students. The results of evaluations indicate that the workshop is a highly motivating experience for students and facilitates the integration of knowledge and skills, not only in gross anatomy, but from many areas of the course thus fostering the skills that students will need for future clinical practise.