Whole body dissection, once a long-held method of learning and teaching in anatomy medical education, has largely been replaced by cost and time-reduced methods of teaching. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of student knowledge acquisition and retention, following six annual intensive eight-week elective anatomy by whole body dissection (AWBD) courses implemented between 2010 and 2015, utilizing a modified team-based learning (TBL) pedagogy. A total of 160 students completed the intensive full-time courses. During each course, students, in groups of five or six, completed the dissection of a whole cadaver. Students were assessed by a standardized practical test involving the accurate identification of 20 different tagged anatomical structures. All students (n = 160) completed pre-course and end-course individual assessments. Seventy students were assessed again 1 month after the course ended. A further 71 students were assessed 7 months later. A marked increase in topographical relational anatomical knowledge was demonstrated. The median pre-course score was 9/20 (interquartile range 5). The median end-course score was 19/20 (IQR 2), a statistically significant increase (p < 0.001). The assessments for the 70 students reassessed 1 month after the course ended showed no significant statistical change. The assessments for the further 71 students assessed 7 months later also showed no significant statistical change. The results of this study demonstrate that AWBD, provides significant acquisition and maintenance of three-dimensional regional relational anatomical knowledge. As an elective, AWBD has a place in the medical curricula, particularly for students interested in a surgical or procedural based specialty career.
Keywords: anatomy by whole body dissection; medicine; surgery; team-based learning.
© 2022 The Authors. Clinical Anatomy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association for Clinical Anatomists and the British Association for Clinical Anatomists.