Serving as an Anatomy Laboratory Teaching Assistant Does Not Improve USMLE Step 1 Performance.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy Instruction
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Teaching can enhance a teacher's learning through cognitive processes like retrieval practice and elaboration.
• Near-peer teaching roles, such as anatomy laboratory teaching assistants (TAs), may offer benefits to both learners and instructors.
• The cognitive advantages of teaching suggest potential academic benefits for near-peer anatomy TAs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if serving as an anatomy TA is associated with improved performance on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1.
• To test the hypothesis that medical students who teach anatomy achieve higher Step 1 scores due to cognitive benefits.

Main Methods:

• Sixty second-year medical students who served as anatomy TAs were identified and matched with peers who had similar anatomy course performance but no TA experience.
• De-identified USMLE Step 1 scores were obtained from institutional records.
• An independent samples t-test was used to compare Step 1 scores between the TA group and the matched control group.

Main Results:

• The mean USMLE Step 1 score for TAs was 238.0 (SD=19.7), and for matched controls, it was 236.1 (SD=16.5).
• The difference in scores between the two groups was not statistically significant (t(118)=0.573, p=0.568).

Conclusions:

• Medical students who served as anatomy TAs did not demonstrate significantly better performance on the USMLE Step 1 compared to their peers.
• Near-peer teaching roles in anatomy, under the study's conditions, did not yield measurable improvements in standardized test outcomes.
• Educators should consider that while teaching benefits professional development and anatomical knowledge, specific instructional design may be necessary to align teaching experiences with exam-related learning goals.