Physical Therapy Student Perceptions of Human Anatomy Education Delivery Modalities
Purpose: Human anatomy education typically relies on human cadavers. However, because of logistical problems with maintaining a cadaver lab, schools are considering new techniques for students to learn human anatomy. These new techniques may include the use of virtual technology, 3-D printed structures, and synthetic models of human cadavers. In 2017, the University of Mary purchased 6 synthetic cadavers (SynDaver, Tampa, FL) to supplement the use of Adam Interactive Anatomy software (ADAM Education, Johns Creek, GA), skeletons, and joint models in the human anatomy course. SynDavers are synthetic human cadavers that allow students to study the 3-dimensional organization of the body, but do not allow for dissection. The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the perspectives of physical therapy students toward cadavers when compared to Syndavers and the use of virtual anatomy.
Methods/Description: Research participants consisted of 29 students in the DPT program who had completed a prior anatomy course which utilized at least 6 hours of instruction using cadavers. The participating students either completed the first-year anatomy course which utilized SynDavers, or they participated in a supplementary anatomy review using the SynDavers. Students then completed a survey utilizing a Likert scale about their perspectives on both cadavers and SynDavers. The survey consisted of 13 statement pairs with one statement relating to the use of cadavers and the other to SynDavers. The statement pairs were divided into four categories: emotional impressions, perceptions of teaching and learning, anatomical identification, and religious and ethical considerations. In addition, students were asked whether the availability of cadavers played a role in their physical therapy school application and selection process; whether they felt that SynDavers and virtual anatomy are a sufficient resource to learn anatomy, and whether they are an adequate replacement for cadavers. The Wilcoxon nonparametric test was used to assess differences between the responses to cadavers and SynDavers.
Results/Outcomes: Students were more intrigued to be working with cadavers (90%) when compared to working with SynDavers (34%), though more reported an emotional response to cadavers (34% vs. 6%). Only low numbers of students reported feeling apprehensive about working with either cadavers (14%) or SynDavers (10%). Significantly more students preferred working with cadavers (79%) vs. SynDavers (10%) and felt that they learned better (83% vs. 10%). A majority felt that both the cadavers and SynDavers were beneficial for learning anatomy, though more felt that the cadavers were beneficial (97%) compared to the SynDavers (59%). Most students reported that muscular, nervous, vascular and connective tissue structures were readily identifiable, though more felt that they were identifiable on the cadavers (83-90%) compared to the SynDavers (48-65%). Equal percentages of students felt that working with cadavers and SynDavers was ethically acceptable. Thirty-eight percent of students stated that the availability of human cadavers played a role in their physical therapy school application process and selection. Thirty-seven percent of students thought that SynDavers and virtual anatomy were a sufficient way to learn anatomy, while 17% felt that they were an adequate replacement for cadavers.
Conclusions/Relevance to the conference theme: New methods have been developed to supplement and potentially replace the use of cadavers in learning human anatomy. Lopez and Miranda reported that students report that SynDavers are useful in learning human anatomy, but SynDavers were not compared to human cadavers. In this current study, students reported a significant preference towards working with human cadavers over Syndavers. They felt that they learned better, and that while structures were readily identifiable on both, they were more identifiable on the cadavers. Students did feel less of an emotional response when working with the SynDavers. Further study is needed to assess the effectiveness of using SynDavers to learn human anatomy and their usefulness as a supplement or an adequate replacement for human cadavers.