A Guide to Competencies, Educational Goals, and Learning Objectives for Teaching Medical Histology in an Undergraduate Medical Education Setting.

Horizontal and vertical integration within medical school curricula, truncated contact hours available to teach basic biomedical sciences, and diverse assessment methods have left histology educators searching for an answer to a fundamental question-what ensures competency for medical students in histology upon completion of medical school? The Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) and the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) advocate faculty to provide medical students with a list of learning objectives prior to any educational activities, regardless of pedagogy. It is encouraged that the learning objectives are constructed using higher-order and measurable action verbs to ensure student-centered learning and assessment. A survey of the literature indicates that there is paucity of knowledge about competencies, goals, and learning objectives appropriate for histology education in preclinical years.

Bilateral symmetrical supernumerary heads of biceps brachii with rare pectoralis major insertion.

During a routine dissection of a 51-year-old Caucasian male cadaver, bilateral symmetrical supernumerary heads (SH) of the biceps brachii muscles with insertion into the pectoralis major (PM) muscles were discovered. Multiple case reports have documented supernumerary heads for the biceps brachii; however, none have shown bilateral insertion into the pectoralis major. This study describes a previously undocumented variation of the SH that has potential for clinical impact.

The current status of the anatomical sciences curriculum in U.S. and Canadian dental schools.

The anatomical sciences form one of the major building blocks of the basic medical sciences in the professional training of dentists. This paper defines the courses and classifies the formats of teaching for each course within the anatomical sciences curriculum. Information was gathered from the Internet, specifically the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) website links to U.

Making gross anatomy relevant to dental students.

This paper describes the curriculum design and enhancements of dental gross anatomy courses at three universities in North America. The greatest problem for gross anatomy faculty is making the regions of the body below the neck relevant to dental students for their future clinical education as well as the longer term dental practice. The proposed solutions demonstrated in the three courses range from satisfying the student's grade and test requirements, such as passing the anatomical sciences section of the National Board Dental Examination Part I, to making the material relevant to clinical dentistry.