PRACTICAL ANATOMY IN THE FIRST
YEAR OF A PBL-BASED HYBRID CURRICULUM
Vaughan Kippers, Ph.D.*
& R. Claire Aland, Ph.D. Department of Anatomy & Developmental
Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland,
Brisbane, 4072, AUSTRALIA
The first-year intake to the PBL-based program at The University of
Queensland is over 300. On average, there is an anatomy class every week
during the 32 teaching weeks of the first year, termed “Foundations of
Medical Practice”. Anatomy practical sessions are of three types; gross
anatomy in the human dissection laboratory, histology where there is a
microscope for each student, and expert tutorials, which are mainly
surface anatomy tutorials. Changes to the traditional anatomy classes,
where “normal” anatomy was previously taught exclusively, have
involved a reformatting of the laboratory notes to focus student learning
in a number of related areas. Generically, the practical exercises for
gross anatomy are organised in the left-hand column under the following
headings: “Dissection” (each group has a cadaver that is dissected
prior to and during class as a demonstration using an overhead video
camera with multiple monitors), “Regions or Organs” listed separately,
“Embryological Development”, “Blood Supply, “Nerve Supply”,
“Medical Imaging” as an introduction to radiology, “Surface
Anatomy” as an introduction to clinical physical examination, and
“Clinical Terminology” that contains a list of terms to be defined and
explained. The
School
of
Medicine
encourages the specification of the clinical relevance of each learning
resource provided to the students, so the right-hand column on each page
is headed “Clinical Relevance”, where the significance of each block
of anatomical information is specified. During the revision of the
previous notes, there has been a decrease in the specific lists of
structures that have to be identified during the practical class, in line
with the differences between Moore & Dalley (1999), the previous
recommended text, and Moore & Agur (2002), the present recommended
text.
The practical classes in histology
are run as interactive tutorial/lecture sessions, where theoretical
information is presented in tandem with practical exercises consisting of
examination of normal human tissue directed by the lecturer using a
photomicroscope, with images projected via multiple monitors and a data
projector. The study of pathological processes is integrated with the
normal structure and function of the tissue. Emphasis is on understanding
rather than just identifying the tissue; developing general concepts in
the first few sessions that are then applied through the succeeding
practicals. Electron microscopy, immunochemistry and cytology are
introduced in basic form. The practical classes are supplemented with a
bank of labelled photomicrographs of normal and pathological tissue, and a
CD-ROM containing a program supported by a web browser, of histological
images and explanatory text.
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