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Quantifying research on anatomical structures, a potential new metric for assessing clinical relevance
Eric J Dahl1, Sarika Hira1, Jonathan H Geisler1
1New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Northern Boulevard, Old Westbury, New York, USA.
Clinical Anatomy (New York, N.Y.)
|July 14, 2022
Summary
Researchers found that the number of published studies on human anatomical structures correlates with their clinical relevance. This metric can help guide medical education by identifying key structures for students to master.
Area of Science:
- Anatomy
- Medical Education
- Bibliometrics
Background:
- Medical education emphasizes anatomical learning objectives, but the clinical relevance of specific structures is often underassessed.
- Identifying essential anatomical structures for mastery is crucial for aligning curricula with clinical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that publication frequency of anatomical structures reflects their clinical relevance.
- To develop and validate a bibliometric tool for assessing the clinical importance of anatomical structures.
Main Methods:
- Developed a semi-automated PubMed search routine to quantify publication frequency for 2182 anatomical structures.
- Compared PubMed-derived ranks with expert consensus data (Delphi method) and clinical journal publications.
Main Results:
- Publication frequency of anatomical structures significantly correlates with their clinical relevance.
- The PubMed-based method successfully ranked research intensity and showed high correlation with expert-derived ranks.
- Restricting searches to clinical journals yielded similar, significant results.
Conclusions:
- Publication frequency serves as a valid, up-to-date metric for the clinical relevance of anatomical structures.
- This bibliometric approach offers a valuable tool for anatomical educators to refine curricula and learning objectives.
- Aligning basic science education with clinical expectations can be enhanced by this novel assessment method.
