Abdominal Anatomy Tutorial Using a Medical Imaging Platform.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy
• Radiology

Background:

• Effective transition to clinical environments is crucial for medical students.
• Traditional anatomy resources often lack clinical imaging interpretation skills.
• Integrating medical imaging into anatomy education can bridge this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a self-administered PowerPoint tutorial integrating abdominal anatomy with radiological images.
• To assess the tutorial's impact on medical students' knowledge and confidence.
• To determine the tutorial's effectiveness as a review tool.

Main Methods:

• A PowerPoint tutorial incorporating X-ray, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging with clinical correlations was developed.
• The tutorial was evaluated as a review tool using a repeated-measures control/experimental design with 100 Australian preclerkship medical students.
• Assessment included knowledge-based questionnaires, a self-efficacy scale, and open-ended questions.

Main Results:

• The tutorial significantly improved direct anatomy knowledge, with experimental group posttest scores averaging 32% higher (p < .001).
• Improvements were particularly notable in short-answer and multiple-choice question performance.
• Students reported enhanced confidence in their anatomy and medical imaging knowledge.

Conclusions:

• The tutorial demonstrated significant value as a review resource for abdominal anatomy and medical imaging.
• The findings support the use of such tutorials as adjuncts to anatomy curricula.
• Further research is warranted to explore their potential as stand-alone learning tools.