Effect of peer facilitation in anatomy small group curriculum on academic performance and retention: A pilot study.

Peer-assisted learning and group facilitation have been proven to foster active participation in small-group learning, and these effective teaching modalities have been shown to enhance learning outcomes. This study introduced a student peer facilitator role in an anatomy small-group curriculum for pre-clerkship medical students and explored its impact on academic performance and retention. Students were required to rotate through this facilitator role and lead their small group during their designated sessions.

Teaching teen titans: An anatomy curriculum using superheroes for middle- and high school students in health professions outreach programs.

Health professions outreach programs are important avenues to increase interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). One aspect of many of these programs is anatomy, which can be challenging to teach due to its scope. Creative teaching methods, such as the incorporation of examples from pop culture, can help students better access complex scientific concepts.

Moving Beyond the Near-Peer Teaching Model with the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Teaching Assistant Program.

Medical students will become educators teaching peers, healthcare students, patients, and families. At Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, the "Teaching Assistants in Medical Education" program provides fourth-year medical students with the skills and experiences needed to prepare them as medical educators. The program goes beyond the near peer teaching model to support student development in curricular design, assessment, and communication skills through a Clinical Skills or Anatomy track.

Comfort levels and experiences of middle school and high school age children in anatomical donor-based anatomy outreach sessions.

Many health professions schools host anatomy outreach sessions for high school students that utilize anatomical donors. However, teaching with anatomical donors for younger learners is uncommon. This study aimed to assess the comfort levels and experiences of students who attended the anatomy sessions as part of summer programs at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Donor memorialization practices at religious institutions in the United States.

Many institutions worldwide honor the gift of human body donors through memorial services, ceremonies, and various other means, such as guided reflection or art activities. Memorial services can vary when it comes to the name, who is involved in the planning, and who may attend. Within the United States, the role of religion in the planning and delivery of these ceremonies at religious institutions has yet to be actively explored.

Honoring human body donors: Five core themes to consider regarding ethical treatment and memorialization.

Dissection of human body donors is a common component of anatomy curricula, as it provides opportunities for tactile and intellectual engagement unmatched otherwise. Additionally, interaction with human body donors contributes to the "hidden curriculum" of allowing students to begin to ethically practice patient care with empathy, respect, and compassion. With this, there have been various proposed guidelines for the ethical treatment of human body donors, with most focusing on student reflections and a final ceremony for honoring the donors, but there are numerous other ways throughout the course to incorporate ethical values and to guide students to consider the humanity of the donor.

Effects of using superheroes in an undergraduate human anatomy curriculum.

Students often find human anatomy courses to be difficult due to the large amount of content covered at a fast pace, which can result in students failing to retain pertinent information. Superheroes are at the forefront of today's popular culture, with many students identifying with specific characters. Utilizing aspects of students' lives, or their agency, that they can resonate with in the classroom, such as their interests in superheroes or personal connections to fictional characters, may help drive students' motivation to learn course content.

Anatomists Assemble! Integrating superheroes into the anatomy and physiology classroom.

Anatomy and physiology courses are sometimes seen as difficult, which can lead to a lack of motivation in students to learn and engage in the course material. Students may also see the material as "dry," have issues forming personal connections, or struggle to connect the content to the real world. These issues may lead to students not performing well in the course or feeling that the health field is not ideal for them.

Lipid droplet storage promotes murine pancreatic tumor growth.

Hypoxia Inducible Lipid Droplet Associated (HILPDA) is frequently overexpressed in tumors and promotes neutral lipid storage. The impact of Hilpda on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor growth is not known. In order to evaluate Hilpda‑dependent lipid storage mechanisms, expression of Hilpda in murine pancreatic cells (KPC) was genetically manipulated.