Evaluation of practical sessions in clinical anatomy: a strategy for educational improvement

We have evaluated the students' response to the practical teaching sessions in Clinical Anatomy in our Medical School using an action-research method. The aim was to identify problems and to introduce changes that might improve both the program and the performance of the teaching staff. At the end of each section of the program, each student completed a "target type" questionnaire with eight different components. As each one quarter of the whole class had its own teacher, we used an analysis of variance to evaluate the target questions in the various sections of the program, and the performance of the four teachers. This research method gave us feedback on the students' responses while the program was in progress. The results emphasize the importance of action-research in assessing and improving a developing program in a basic discipline of the medical curriculum.