Retention of topographical anatomical knowledge following surgeon-facilitated whole-body dissection

Background Topographical anatomy has been taught to medical students by cadaver‐based dissection for centuries. However, there is a void in the literature assessing the long‐term retention of anatomical knowledge by medical students following teaching by whole‐body dissection. The purpose of this paper was to assess both the acquisition and retention of topographical anatomical knowledge gained by medical students undertaking an elective whole‐body dissection course. Methods This is a retrospective review of prospectively gathered data. A total of 24 students completed the elective 8‐week Anatomy by Whole Body Dissection course at the University of Sydney in 2013. Surgeons and surgical trainees acted as demonstrators and anatomical knowledge was assessed on four occasions: pre, mid, end and 8 months post‐course in the form of a 20‐question wet specimen tag test. Results There was strong evidence of a significant difference (P < 0.001) in the students’ pre‐course scores (median = 8 out of 20, IQR = 6) compared with their end‐course scores (median = 19 out of 20, IQR = 2). Similarly, there was a highly significant difference (P < 0.001) between students' pre‐course scores and the 8‐month follow‐up post‐course test (median = 18, IQR = 3), with a median difference of 10 points. There was no significant difference (P > 0.2) between the students’ end‐course assessment results and the 8 months post‐course assessment indicating retention of knowledge. Conclusion Surgeon‐facilitated anatomical teaching to medical students by whole‐body dissection significantly improves topographical anatomical knowledge which is maintained in the long term.