Implementation and modification of an anatomy-based integrated curriculum.

Morehouse School of Medicine elected to restructure its first-year medical curriculum by transitioning from a discipline-based to an integrated program. The anatomy course, with regional dissection at its core, served as the backbone for this integration by weaving the content from prior traditional courses into the curriculum around the anatomy topics. There were four primary goals for this restructuring process.

Clinical Correlations as a Tool in Basic Science Medical Education.

Clinical correlations are tools to assist students in associating basic science concepts with a medical application or disease. There are many forms of clinical correlations and many ways to use them in the classroom. Five types of clinical correlations that may be embedded within basic science courses have been identified and described.

Anatomy as the backbone of an integrated first year medical curriculum: design and implementation.

Morehouse School of Medicine chose to restructure its first year medical curriculum in 2005. The anatomy faculty had prior experience in integrating courses, stemming from the successful integration of individual anatomical sciences courses into a single course called Human Morphology. The integration process was expanded to include the other first year basic science courses (Biochemistry, Physiology, and Neurobiology) as we progressed toward an integrated curriculum.

Use of Web-based materials to enhance anatomy instruction in the health sciences.

Teaching anatomy by dissection is under considerable pressure to evolve and/or even be eliminated, and curricular hours in the dissection laboratory are decreasing. As a possible means of easing this pressure, an online interactive anatomy program has been created to enhance the dissection experience, observational learning, and three-dimensional comprehension of human anatomy. An assessment was made of the utility of the program in preparing students for dissection laboratories and for examinations.