A minimally invasive approach to undergraduate anatomy teaching

Anatomy is one of the cornerstones of medical education. Unfortunately, sufficient evidence has accumulated to suggest a worldwide decline in the resources and time allocated to its teaching. Integration of anatomy with clinical medicine has been frequently advocated as the solution to this academic crisis. Consequently, new ways of harnessing clinical relevance to the teaching of anatomy must be sought to make it applicable to contemporary clinical practice. Human cadavers have been used to teach laparoscopic skills to surgical trainees for some time. More recently, centers in the United States have piloted the use of minimally invasive techniques in the teaching of anatomy to undergraduates. We believe that the use of laparoscopy on human cadavers may also be used to complement the teaching of anatomy to United Kingdom and European medical students. This would not only familiarize students with the topography and morphology of human anatomy, but also with the concept of manipulating anatomical structures to achieve a clinical outcome. Other benefits include improved three‐dimensional orientation, increased dexterity, and development team‐working skills amongst students. A UK feasibility study is currently underway. Anat Sci Ed 1:46–47, 2008. © 2007 American Association of Anatomists.     

A Multicomponent Library Resource Model to Enhance Academic Global Health Education Among Residency Programs

Global health is becoming an increasingly important component of medical education. Medical libraries have an opportunity to assist global health residents with their information needs, but first it is important to identify what those needs are and how best they can be addressed. This article reports a collaboration between global health faculty and an academic medical librarian to assess the information needs of global health pathway residents and how assessment data are used to create a multicomponent program designed to enhance global health education.     

Evaluating the efficacy of a teacher-guided comprehension-oriented learning strategy intervention among students in Grade 4

This study examined the effects of a teacher-led learning-strategy intervention program on fourth-grade students’ reported use and perceived effectiveness of rehearsal and comprehension-oriented learning strategies. During 18 program units, teachers taught about learning and various learning strategies, including visualisation, elaboration and categorisation. Strategies were practised in math, language and science classes. Participants were comprised of 82 fourth-grade students in the intervention group and 387 fourth-grade students in the control group. Students’ reported use and perceived effectiveness of learning strategies were assessed before and at least 4 months after intervention using a web-based word-memorisation task and associated reflection questions. The intervention group tended to use more comprehension-oriented learning strategies in post-tests, and the intervention group also showed an increase in perceived effectiveness of comprehension-oriented learning strategies. Still, rehearsal was evaluated as the most effective strategy in both the control group and the intervention group. Explanations for these findings and possible future directions are discussed.

     

Hybrid position/force control of a flexible parallel manipulator

In this paper, simultaneous position/force control of a closed-chain planar manipulator with the last link flexible is studied when the manipulator is in contact with an environment. The proposed manipulator consists of a flexible link connected to three rigid linkages whichare optimized for kinematic and force manipulability in the region of interest. The flexible link is modeled as a series of rigid links connected by virtual torsion springs. A hybrid position/force control algorithm is developed and implemented on the manipulator. Experimental results are presented to verify the performance of the controller.     

Réunion d'experts sur l'évaluation en éducation,Hambourg, mars 1958

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