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114 - Evaluating Musculoskeletal Anatomy Knowledge Among First-Year Medical Students: A Longitudinal Analysis with Curricular Variation

Thursday, February 27, 2025

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM MST

Presenting Author(s)

WL

William Lew, BS

Medical Student
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Co-Author(s)

ES

Eli M. Snyder, BS

Medical Student
University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Co-Author(s)

MS

Mikayla L. Sonnleitner, BS

Medical Student
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
FJ

Franchesca Johnson, BS

Medical Student
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
HL

Ho Hyun Lee, BA

Medical Student
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
BS

Brent Shimoda, BA

Medical Student
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
GA

Gunes Aytac, MD, PhD

Department of Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Physiology
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
CS

Christopher Stickley, PhD

Department of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
EO

Elliott Oshiro, n/a

Office of Medical Education
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
SN

Stephanie Nishimura, PhD

Office of Medical Education
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Henry L. Lew, MD, PhD

Professor, Director of Rehabilitation Medicine Education
University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Objectives: Several studies have highlighted insufficient musculoskeletal (MSK) anatomy knowledge among medical students and residents. The current study evaluated MSK anatomy examination scores between successive cohorts of first-year medical students to compare three interventions: (A) a teaching-assistant-led pre-examination review session; (B) a clinical skills teaching session of the knee and shoulder joints, which was reinforced during anatomy dissection sessions, and (C) a combination of interventions (A) and (B).

Design: Intervention A was administered to the first cohort. Intervention B was administered to the second cohort. Intervention C was provided to the third cohort. Outcome measures included (1) scores from a 30-question multiple-choice anatomy final examination, and (2) scores from 10 of the 30 questions that were related to the clinical skills teaching session.

Results: Data from all members of each class of 77 students were captured (n = 231) and outliers from each class were removed for analyses. Results showed (1) the third cohort scored 3.3% higher than the second cohort (p < 0.05) on all 30 questions and (2) the third cohort scored 5.1% better than second cohort (p < 0.05) and 5.0% higher than the first cohort (p < 0.05) on the 10 questions related to the clinical skills teaching session. No other comparisons yielded significant results.

Conclusions: The significantly higher MSK anatomy examination scores in the third cohort suggested that a combination of pre-exam review sessions with clinical skills teaching sessions (intervention C) enhanced students' knowledge of MSK anatomy more effectively than intervention A or intervention B alone. Longitudinal assessments and similar research at other institutions may further elucidate the differential effects of clinical skills teaching and pre-examination review sessions on medical students’ MSK anatomy knowledge.