Dissecting interprofessional anatomy education: insights from AI-driven assessment

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy
• Interprofessional Education (IPE)

Background:

• An 8-week interprofessional education (IPE) human anatomy dissection elective was offered to first-year health professional students in 2024.
• Previous IPE electives enhanced collaboration and readiness, but their impact on anatomical knowledge was unevaluated.
• This study aimed to assess changes in students' anatomical knowledge following the IPE anatomy dissection elective.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an 8-week IPE human anatomy dissection elective on first-year health professional students' anatomical knowledge.
• To assess the utility of artificial intelligence (AI) objective structured practical examination (OSPE) as a formative assessment tool for anatomical knowledge.

Main Methods:

• First-year students and mentors participated in an 8-week IPE anatomy elective.
• An online AI OSPE with 30 questions across 10 anatomical topics was administered pre- and post-elective.
• AI grading was manually verified, and scores were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Main Results:

• Twenty-four participants completed both pre- and post-tests.
• Median total AI OSPE scores significantly increased from 45.0% pre-elective to 60.0% post-elective (p=0.0041).
• Significant score improvements were noted in neuroanatomy (66.7% to 100%) and reproductive anatomy (0.0% to 66.7%) (p<0.01).

Conclusions:

• The IPE anatomy elective was associated with measurable improvements in students' anatomical knowledge, especially in specialized areas.
• AI OSPE serves as a viable tool for assessing anatomy knowledge and supporting student learning.
• Further research should explore knowledge retention and optimize AI integration in anatomy curricula.