Embalming fixatives such as formaldehyde and phenol have been associated with occupational health hazards. While anatomists aim at replacing these chemicals, this seems presently unfeasible in particular for formaldehyde. Furthermore, fixation protocols usually require well-equipped facilities with highly experienced staff to achieve good fixation…

Practice exams are a proven tool to increase retrieval of information long-term. Over a three-year period, students in Anatomy and Physiology I and II were offered practice exams as either no-stakes practice exams (years 1-2) and low-stakes practice exams (year 3). Students who took practice exams did significantly better on the actual lecture…

Anatomy education has been revolutionized through digital media, resulting in major advances in realism, portability, scalability, and user satisfaction. However, while such approaches may well be more portable, realistic, or satisfying than traditional photographic presentations, it is less clear that they have any superiority in terms of student…

The Covid-19 pandemic has driven the fastest changes to higher education across the globe, necessitated by social distancing measures preventing face-to-face teaching. This has led to an almost immediate switch to distance learning by higher education institutions. Anatomy faces some unique challenges. Intrinsically, anatomy is a three-dimensional…

Clinical skills and medical knowledge enable physicians to overcome the uncertainty of emergent and rare clinical scenarios. Recently, a growing emphasis on evidence-based medicine (EBM) has flooded medical curricula of universities across the globe with guideline-based material, and while it has given teachers and students new tools to improve…

At Kansas City University, anatomy laboratories were delivered via remote (REM) or on-campus (OC) formats due to COVID-19, creating an opportunity to evaluate student perceptions of differences in laboratory delivery format. A six-item survey of Likert scale and open-ended questions explored the utility of anatomy software, prelab instruction…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) with anterior instrumentation on swallowing function and physiology as measured on videofluoroscopic swallowing studies. Method: We retrospectively analyzed both functional measures (penetration-aspiration, residue) and…

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by amyloid plaques, synapse dysfunction, and memory loss. The production and accumulation of A[beta] peptides, a major component of the amyloid plaques, is sensitive to many genetic and environmental factors. Recently, research has focused on the role of oxidative stress…

Health professions outreach programs are important avenues to increase interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). One aspect of many of these programs is anatomy, which can be challenging to teach due to its scope. Creative teaching methods, such as the incorporation of examples from pop culture, can help…

Digital model platforms and applications are common in anatomy education and continue to grow in number, which suggests that educators and students find use for these tools despite the lack of widely accepted best practices. Consequently, it is a challenge for educators to mindfully integrate digital models into curriculum. This short-term,…

Most health-related educational programs are traditionally stressful. One of the most frequent academic stressors that students report is their gross anatomy experience. A variety of symptoms, including stress, anxiety, and emotional distress, have been reported among students in anatomy, particularly concerning working with anatomical donors.…

The limitations of inquiry-based teaching modules impact the low critical thinking skills of students. The research objective is to develop an inquiry-based module to improve students' critical thinking skills. This development research uses the Borg and Gall model in designing and testing the module. The development was carried out in…

Embodied learning pedagogy highlights the interconnections between the brain, body, and the concrete environment. As a teaching method, it provides means of engaging the physical body in multimodal learning experiences to develop the students' cognitive process. Based on this perspective, several research studies introduced different interaction…

Health science represents the fastest-growing industry in the United States, a trend not predicted to slow for the next decade. The high demand for health professionals has led to increased demand for anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses and a transition to hybrid-style labs to meet the necessary increased enrollment without increasing the…

International medical students at I-Shou University's School of Medicine for International Students (SMIS) receive Taiwan government-funded scholarships to cultivate skilled and compassionate medical professionals from the Caribbean, Central America, and the Pacific Islands. This study examines the meaningful impact of Caribbean medical students'…