Do medical students recognize Terminologia Anatomica terms more accurately than eponyms? A randomized comparative...

Despite longstanding debate over the use of Latin/Terminologia Anatomica (TA) and eponymous nomenclature in anatomy education, direct comparative evidence on students' recognition of these terminologies within the same curricular context remains limited. This study compared recognition of TA and eponymous terminology in second-year medical students using a multiple-choice anatomy test. In this single-center, randomized, parallel-group comparative assessment study, students at Ankara Medipol University Faculty of Medicine (N = 216) were assigned by stratified block randomization to receive either the TA assessment form (n = 108) or the eponym assessment form (n = 108). For 35 of the 36 items the two forms shared identical question stems and differed only in the terminology of the response options. The primary analysis used generalized estimating equations to account for within-student clustering. Students in the TA group achieved higher scores than those in the eponym group (14.72 ± 6.29 vs. 10.85 ± 4.43 of 36 items; mean difference 3.87, 95% CI 2.41 to 5.33). Item-level analysis confirmed higher odds of correct responses in the TA group (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.35 to 1.91, p < 0.001). After exclusion of 16 items considered as potentially susceptible to lexical cueing, the advantage for TA terminology was smaller but remained significant (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.51, p = 0.013). These findings provide empirical support for emphasizing TA terminology in anatomy teaching, while indicating that selected established eponyms may be retained where clinical or cultural familiarity warrants.