First year medical students' performance analysis in anatomy with different modes of teaching: an experience of medical school in South India
Abstract Background and aims: The routine method of didactic lecture followed by dissection does not help for long-term retention of the subject, anatomy amongst medical students. The impact of clinical anatomy knowledge in medical profession is large and there is an absolute lack of positive reception in this regard amongst student community. Teaching methods play an important role to create interest and to make students appreciate the subject better. Studies evaluating different modes of teaching anatomy are scarce. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of different modes of anatomy teaching among medical students. Materials and methods: First year medical students were divided randomly into three groups and different modes of teaching anatomy like blackboard and chalk, audio/visual and using plastic models were compared by examination based assessment. The data of multiple groups were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, followed by the Newman–Keuls multiple comparison test (PRISM Graph pad, version 4; Graph Pad Software, Inc., San Diego, CA). A P value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: No single method is effective in increasing the performance of both theory and practical examination across different topics and so a suitable combination of the different modes for a particular topic in anatomy teaching should be framed.