Health Sciences Education Symposium

First Author Information

Peter J. Haar, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology, School of Medicine, Department of Radiology

Additional Author(s) Information

Ann S. Fulcher, MD, Chair of Radiology, School of Medicine, Department of Radiology. M. Alex Meredith, PhD, Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. Beth K. Rubinstein, MD, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine

Presentation Format

Poster

Type of Activity

Innovation

Original Presentation Date

2018

Date of Submission

April 2018

Abstract/Short Description

Navigating and interpreting cross-sectional medical image sets are important skills used by most physicians to apply anatomical knowledge to patient care. However, few medical schools provide formal instruction in understanding cross-sectional anatomy. For these reasons, a curriculum was developed in which the medical school gross anatomy cadavers were CT scanned prior to dissection, and CT images of specific cadavers were correlated both to labelled atlas images and to direct structural observations of those same cadavers during dissection. The students were taught to navigate CT data sets in axial, coronal, and sagittal planes, to mentally synthesize three-dimensional understandings of individual cadaveric structures, and to correlate these understandings to the same structures observed directly during dissection. On average, the students reported a significantly higher interest in interpreting radiologic images and comfort level interacting with CT images after the course. Additionally, several opportunities to improve the educational initiative were discovered.

References

Phillips AW, Smith SG, Ross CF, Straus CM. Direct correlation of radiologic and cadaveric structures in a gross anatomy course. Medical teacher. 2012; 34(12):e779­-784. Bohl M, Francois W, Gest T. Self­-guided clinical cases for medical students based on postmortem CT scans of cadavers. Clinical anatomy (New York, N.Y.). Jul 2011; 24(5):655­-663. Nwachukwu CR. Cadaver CT scans a useful adjunct in gross anatomy: The medical student perspective. Anatomical sciences education. Jan­-Feb 2014; 7(1):83­-84. Chew FS, Relyea-­Chew A, Ochoa ER, Jr. Postmortem computed tomography of cadavers embalmed for use in teaching gross anatomy. Journal of computer assisted Jacobson S, Epstein SK, Albright S, et al. Creation of virtual patients from CT images of cadavers to enhance integration of clinical and basic science student learning in anatomy. Medical teacher. Aug 2009; 31(8):749­-751

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© The Author(s)

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VCU Medical Education Symposium

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