Essential anatomy for core clerkships: A clinical perspective.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy
• Clinical Sciences

Background:

• Anatomy is foundational for medical practice, yet student knowledge often falls short of clinical faculty expectations.
• Core clerkships (Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, etc.) are crucial for integrating basic science with clinical experience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify anatomy considered important by clinicians for each of the eight core medical school clerkships.
• To provide an evidence base for revising preclinical anatomy curricula to better support clinical training.

Main Methods:

• A survey of 525 clinical faculty at 24 US allopathic medical schools assessed the importance of 97 anatomical structure groups.
• Participants used a 1-4 Likert scale (1=not important, 4=essential).
• Non-parametric ANOVAs were used to analyze differences between clerkships.

Main Results:

• 91% of anatomical structure groups were rated as essential or more important across all clerkships.
• Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and General Surgery clinicians rated most body regions' anatomy significantly higher than other clerkships.
• Significant differences in perceived anatomical importance were found between clerkships (p=0.006).

Conclusions:

• This needs assessment provides an evidence-based list of essential anatomy for core clerkships.
• Findings can guide the development and revision of preclinical anatomy curricula to align with clinical training needs.
• Addressing identified anatomy knowledge gaps can improve medical student preparedness for clerkships.