%0 Journal Article
%T A Five-Year Institutional Study of the  Effectiveness of Fourth-Year Clinical  Anatomy in Promoting Musculoskeletal Education
%A Vandan S. Shah
%A Suzanne S. Dooley-Hash
%A Clifford L. Craig
%A John L. Zeller
%J Creative Education
%P 1905-1912
%@ 2151-4771
%D 2014
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ce.2014.521213
%X Despite the increasing prevalence of musculoskeletal disease in the population, studies continue to show deficiencies in the duration and extent of musculoskeletal education. From 2009-2013, senior medical students enrolled in a clinical anatomy elective at our institution¡¯s medical school completed pre- and post-course examinations related to musculoskeletal education with associated radiographic interpretation and physical examination correlates. A control group of fourth-year students who did not participate in a clinical anatomy elective completed a comparable exam. Student pre-course and control group test scores averaged 54%. The control group scored at the same level for the radiographic (pre-course average 65%, control-group average 61%, <em>p</em> = 0.21) and physical exam sections (pre-course average 56%, control-group average 53%, <em>p</em> = 0.28), and lower in the musculoskeletal portion (pre-course average 50%, control-group average 39%, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.001). Students completing a clinical anatomy elective scored significantly higher on their post-course examination compared to their pre-course examination on all sections (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.001) and scored higher than their classmates in the control group, with mean test scores of 84% for the combined sections, representing a 28% improvement. Senior medical students demonstrated deficits in knowledge related to musculoskeletal medicine. Following a focused fourth-year anatomy elective providing students with the opportunity to focus their learning of anatomy in a clinical context, students¡¯ knowledge in musculoskeletal medicine increased substantially.
%K Applied Clinical Anatomy
%K Musculoskeletal Education
%K Medical Education
%K Anatomy Curriculum
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=51849