Gross anatomy examination performances in relation to medical students' knowledge of classical latin and greek

The ability of medical students to acquire anatomical and medical terminologies could be influenced by their knowledge of classical Greek and Latin. In a previous study (Stephens and Moxham , Clin. Anat. 29:696at. ), it was reported that, while newly recruited medical students have a very favorable attitude toward the need to understand these classical languages, final year students see no benefit. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that, regardless of attitude, students in the initial stages of their medical education perform better at both summative and formative anatomy examinations if they have prior knowledge of Greek and Latin. First year medical students at Cardiff University who had been involved in the previous study concerning attitudes toward the relevance of the classical languages to medical education were evaluated in terms of their examination results in anatomy. Two hundred and twenty-seven students responded to a questionnaire (83% of the class) that categorized students into their linguistic knowledge and skills and their performances in formative and summative examinations were analyzed. For medical students with prior knowledge of classical Greek and Latin performed better in both summative and formative anatomy examinations. The results are therefore consistent with our hypothesis. Clin. Anat. 31:501-506, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.