Impact of COVID-19 on anatomy education: a student-based survey and future perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic affected every aspect of life worldwide, including the medical education system, with anatomy teaching being one of the most affected disciplines. To maintain continuity of education, educators rapidly transitioned to virtual teaching methods. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of virtual teaching methods during the pandemic by conducting a student-based survey (378 undergraduate and postgraduate medical students) and comparing them with traditional in-person teaching methods. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire designed to evaluate student's preferences and perceptions regarding virtual teaching. The survey showed that PowerPoint presentations were the most preferred method for online theory teaching, with an average of ~89.00% (n=336) selecting this option across all streams. For online practical classes, YouTube dissection videos were chosen by ~50.00% (n=189) of students of all streams as the most suitable method for learning anatomical dissection online. In-person live lectures with live streaming were chosen as the best model of online anatomy teaching by most of the students, with an average of ~80.00% (n=302). Despite the adoption of various digital tools for online teaching, a significant proportion of students reported that their understanding through online teaching was lower compared to classical in-person teaching methods, with an average response of ~94.50%. Overall, the results indicate a general dissatisfaction among students with the fully online model of anatomy teaching; however, the responses also provided valuable suggestions for improvement of virtual teaching methods. The findings of this study highlight the challenges associated with online anatomy education and provide insights into potential strategies for improving virtual teaching methods. The data obtained may help educators to design more effective online teaching approaches, not only in situations such as pandemics but also as part of future blended learning models in medical education.