** Poster Award Nominee

PLASTINATED ANATOMICAL SPECIMENS: DO THEY HAVE A PLACE IN THE GROSS ANATOMY LABORATORY?

Carol A. Bennett-Clarke, Carlos A.C. Baptista and Richard D. Lane, College of Medicine, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43416 U.S.A. 

Purpose

Currently, 97% of medical schools require cadaver dissection and consider it to be an essential component of the curriculum.  However, many administrators are under growing pressures to reduce or eliminate dissections from their program. Time pressures, reduced numbers of qualified faculty, and advances in technology have called into question the value of student cadaver dissections.   Hence, we ask the question: Are pIastinated prosections as effective as cadaver dissection for promoting student learning?

Methods

Nineteen first year medical students were included in this study involving a single lab session covering the hand dissection.  All students took a laboratory practical pretest just prior to the lab.  Students were placed in 2 groups and either completed the standard dissection of the hand or utilized only plastinated prosections of hands to learn the content of the lab session.  All students completed a posttest and a brief survey at the end of the lab session.

Results

Comparison of the posttest scores of the two student groups indicate no significant difference. However, the mean time needed to complete the lab using plastinated specimens was only half that of the group who did the actual hand dissection. Students utilizing the prosections reported them easy to work with and important structures easy to identify. Overall these students were more satisfied with the laboratory experience based on level of difficulty and time productivity measures.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest that plastinated prosections maybe used in the gross anatomy laboratory without negative impact on student learning.