Practicing handoffs early: Applying a clinical framework in the anatomy laboratory

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy Education
• Clinical Skills Training

Background:

• Anatomy labs offer a unique setting for clinical integration.
• Willed-donors can be viewed as a student's initial patient.
• Peer teaching is a valuable pedagogical approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an innovative peer-teaching method in anatomy labs.
• To assess the impact of the Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) framework on student learning.
• To explore the integration of clinical contexts into basic science education.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-methods approach used to evaluate the anatomic SBAR.
• 147 second-year medical students participated in the head and neck anatomy course.
• Qualitative analysis of student evaluations and closed-question analysis were employed.

Main Results:

• Qualitative themes included learning-by-teaching, doing more with less, and distrust of the peer handoff.
• Anatomic handoffs encouraged focus on knowledge preparation and reflection.
• Student perceptions of handoff usefulness correlated with deeper learning strategies.

Conclusions:

• Anatomic handoffs promote focus on anatomical relationships and transferable clinical skills.
• This integration provides a mechanism for learning anatomy and early clinical skill exposure.
• The SBAR framework can serve as a vertical integration thread in medical education.