A multi-institutional survey on perceptions about clinical application of Anatomy

Background: The primary purpose of anatomy education is to improve students’ competence in their future clinical practice. In Pakistan there has been less emphasis in teaching anatomy in collaboration with clinicians, so there is a need to evaluate the students’ ability to apply the knowledge of anatomy to patient care. We aimed to evaluate and compare the perceptions of medical students and interns regarding their application of anatomical knowledge in clinical aspects. Methodology: This cross sectional survey included questionnaire on perceptions about clinical application of anatomy, using five point Likert scale. Sampling frame comprised of 205 final year students, 38 faculty members, supervising these students and 60 house officers from four medical colleges/teaching hospitals, with two colleges following integrated curriculum and two from traditional teaching. ANOVA and student t-test were used for statistical analysis. Results: The response rate was 87%. The students and interns from group of traditional curriculum perceived to be ill prepared in application of knowledge of anatomy in multiple clinical disciplines. Over all perceptions about clinical application of anatomy were significantly high in participants from medical colleges based on integrated teaching as compared to colleges with traditional curricula (p0.05) Conclusion: Anatomy curriculum should be modified in traditional medical schools in Pakistan, focusing on the role of anatomy in all clinical disciplines and the anatomy related to gynecology and obstetrics needs to be strengthened in both groups. Key words: undergraduate anatomy curriculum, clinical anatomy, application of anatomy, perception