How are anatomy practicals run at your school

[Oh_Gee]

is it just a mad scramble to elbow and push your way to each station before time runs out? or is it just my school?

ours is 1 question per station. only 1 person at a station at a time. 56 questions. 56 minutes

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[psychhopefull2016]

Ours had a beeper and we rotated stations once per minute

 

[arewethereyet...]

Ours was similar, though sometimes there was more than 1 question per station and I don't recall having an only one person per station rule. We would all go into the room, everyone to a station (no peeking) and then they'd start the clock and you would just go where there was an open station. It was never a scramble, just sometimes if there was a tricky one there would be a line, especially towards the end of the exam.

 

[Taddy Mason]

Our class was divided into 2 groups with an hour allotted for each group. 25 questions per exam, all questions were fill in the blank and 2nd order or higher, 1 person per tagged item/question (multiple structures may be tagged per station), stations consisted of either student dissections, prosections, transverse sections of cadavers fixed in a plate, isolated organs, or x-ray/CT/MRI images, and there were rest stations in between due to there being more students than questions. A beeper went off after either 60 or 90secs (I can't remember which), after that we had the remainder of the hour to rotate freely to double check on things we were unsure. All the anatomy profs, graduate TAs, and lab coordinator were positioned throughout the lab to make sure there was no cheating and that too many people didn't gather at one station or tagged item during the free rotation part.

 

[medhopeful82]

3 min at each station - 35 stations with 3-4 questions each. only 1 person at a station at a time. No going back to stations you had already seen -- once the beeper went off you were done at that station. no touching anything only looking

 

[Stagg737]

is it just a mad scramble to elbow and push your way to each station before time runs out? or is it just my school?

ours is 1 question per station. only 1 person at a station at a time. 56 questions. 56 minutes

This sounds like an awful way to do practicals. Do a lot of schools actually do it this way?

Ours was 50 questions, 1 minute per station, rotate on the beep. Once your minute is up, that's it.

 

[Redpancreas]

is it just a mad scramble to elbow and push your way to each station before time runs out? or is it just my school?

ours is 1 question per station. only 1 person at a station at a time. 56 questions. 56 minutes

This sounds terrible. While my school has its flaws elsewhere, anatomy is pretty well done. A couple days before the practical, we have a mock practical where student volunteers/tutors come in and tag some structures. Then, after that, the lab is shut down and the professors go and do their best to tag 120 of the best dissected structures that are remnants from our work. There are 60 bodies so 2 items per body generally and the questions may be Id if the structure is a tough one but are often times
2nd level questions that deal with relations/inner various/etc.

As for the real time logistics, we have an extremely large class so we are split into two groups and half of us take the practical at a time. We all come in with our clipboard and pick a random station/tag to stand at and proctors/lab instructors pass out the test booklet and scantrons. We all start at our station and we have one minute to ID structure and answer the question.

Then a little bell rings and we move onto the next station in an orchestrated fashion. Sometimes to mix things up, instructor have these high resolution cross section pics they use that we have to answer questions on and we have access to these before hand so they're really easy points.

Every 3rd or so station station is a rest stop where we basically take a minute or so to rest or figure out the second level behind the questions where we only had time to Id the structure. Somewhere in the middle is 6 or so rest stops in a row where we have the chance to use the restroom quickly if we need to.

The whole thing takes about 3 and a half hours and starts at 8 am in the morning or 1 pm. I hated them because I wasn't good at anatomy but they were pretty well organized in retrospect.

 

[Oh_Gee]

This sounds like an awful way to do practicals. Do a lot of schools actually do it this way?

Ours was 50 questions, 1 minute per station, rotate on the beep. Once your minute is up, that's it.

This sounds terrible. While my school has its flaws elsewhere, anatomy is pretty well done. A couple days before the practical, we have a mock practical where student volunteers/tutors come in and tag some structures. Then, after that, the lab is shut down and the professors go and do their best to tag 120 of the best dissected structures that are remnants from our work. There are 60 bodies so 2 items per body generally and the questions may be Id if the structure is a tough one but are often times
2nd level questions that deal with relations/inner various/etc.

As for the real time logistics, we have an extremely large class so we are split into two groups and half of us take the practical at a time. We all come in with our clipboard and pick a random station/tag to stand at and proctors/lab instructors pass out the test booklet and scantrons. We all start at our station and we have one minute to ID structure and answer the question.

Then a little bell rings and we move onto the next station in an orchestrated fashion. Sometimes to mix things up, instructor have these high resolution cross section pics they use that we have to answer questions on and we have access to these before hand so they're really easy points.

Every 3rd or so station station is a rest stop where we basically take a minute or so to rest or figure out the second level behind the questions where we only had time to Id the structure. Somewhere in the middle is 6 or so rest stops in a row where we have the chance to use the restroom quickly if we need to.

The whole thing takes about 3 and a half hours and starts at 8 am in the morning or 1 pm. I hated them because I wasn't good at anatomy but they were pretty well organized in retrospect.

seems like there's no changing our rules. i'm going to have to be way more aggressive next time. that's what being a doctor is about right?

 

[Donald Juan]

Ours was similar, though sometimes there was more than 1 question per station and I don't recall having an only one person per station rule. We would all go into the room, everyone to a station (no peeking) and then they'd start the clock and you would just go where there was an open station. It was never a scramble, just sometimes if there was a tricky one there would be a line, especially towards the end of the exam.

That sounds like it could end up being horrible.

Mine was like most described. Stations were numbered 1-50, wherever you started, you moved up every minute with the beep. Nobody to fight with, no looking around for free stations, no waiting in line for the difficult one. Most stations you had plenty of time to figure it out, only a few really tricky ones.

 

[Oh_Gee]

Anatomy practicals were stupid, always brought my grade down. We had a beeper system but only 1 minute/station.. should have been 2.

i would kill for a beeper system. with my system, you have like 10 seconds per question because of how much time you waste looking for an empty station or whatever number you haven't done yet

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Ours is basically what everyone else described with the filing around in a line with a beep for when to move on.

They include CT, MRI, X-ray, and some fluoroscopy reading with a little basic diagnostics with ours though, which is a bit daunting to n00b M1s like myself.

 

[CharakaComplex]

We had a beeper system as well, with a minute per station and two questions per station (ID was typically but not always the first question).

The hardest question on the final (but not on the model exam before the final) I've had was a brain with the meninges left on, a pin through them and the questions: "a) Which layer of this outermost structure is present in the vertebral canal, and b) what is the name given to a collection of blood just below it?" So, all in all, an easy exam.

We also had histology slides for which we just had to ID and write three identifying features. Everything else, including some more histology, was viva voce.

 

[ncide]

Since we take our anatomy courses in the medical school with their professors, I'd reckon it is similar. One minute for each question with 50 questions and you move to the next question after the end of your minute. No fighting and you can touch the cadaver.

 

[Stagg737]

Since we take our anatomy courses in the medical school with their professors, I'd reckon it is similar. One minute for each question with 50 questions and you move to the next question after the end of your minute. No fighting and you can touch the cadaver.

Do you mean "can't touch the cadaver"? Cuz being allowed to touch them would be like Christmas for the gunners...

 

[RRNMD]

Ours is pretty well done n even fun.

We have 4 practicals total.

Each practical, we get divided up into 4 groups.
About 30 Stations. One question per body/station, one student per station. With one of the stations being a rest station. And we get 5 minutes at the end for people to go back to questions they weren't sure of.

Finals- same deal, but two questions per station.

Also- We dress up a certain theme such as crazy hat day, or a body part for each practical and our instructors vote whose costume is the best n give out prizes.

Overall our Anatomy course is well taught with amazing instructors and a very supportive enviroment.

 

[ncide]

Do you mean "can't touch the cadaver"? Cuz being allowed to touch them would be like Christmas for the gunners...

I don't know what the medical students are like, but our professor noted that the dental students are helpful to each other and aren't adversarial. He made some remarks that the medical students are not as friendly with one another, but I took it with a grain of salt.

I'm not concerned that they may be tampered with (if that's what your implying). We can touch them, yes.

 

[Stagg737]

I don't know what the medical students are like, but our professor noted that the dental students are helpful to each other and aren't adversarial. He made some remarks that the medical students are not as friendly with one another, but I took it with a grain of salt.

I'm not concerned that they may be tampered with (if that's what your implying). We can touch them, yes.

Wow, I've never heard of being able to touch the cadavers during a practical. Most med students are fine, but gunners are very real and some would certainly sabotage their peers to improve their own grade. I wouldn't put it past another student to move a pin or change a tag after they answered so their classmates would get it incorrect.

 

[ncide]

Wow, I've never heard of being able to touch the cadavers during a practical. Most med students are fine, but gunners are very real and some would certainly sabotage their peers to improve their own grade. I wouldn't put it past another student to move a pin or change a tag after they answered so their classmates would get it incorrect.

The professor did mention that a tag drifted once and half of the class incorrectly labeled the nerve, but they threw the question out. It may be a risk as you point out.

 

[Oh_Gee]

We had a beeper system as well, with a minute per station and two questions per station (ID was typically but not always the first question).

The hardest question on the final (but not on the model exam before the final) I've had was a brain with the meninges left on, a pin through them and the questions: "a) Which layer of this outermost structure is present in the vertebral canal, and b) what is the name given to a collection of blood just below it?" So, all in all, an easy exam.

We also had histology slides for which we just had to ID and write three identifying features. Everything else, including some more histology, was viva voce.

dura mater?

 

[Mad Jack]

Class split into a few groups. Each group had I believe an hour and a half? As long as you wanted at each station, just kind of wandering around. After that, a 10ish minute 10 question surface anatomy and landmark test that was added to your score but could be failed independently of your overall anatomy score.

 

[neoevolution]

Every 90s the timer goes off and the 1/2 of the class for that session rotates to the next station. No cadaver touching to keep difficulty consistent between students

 

[CharakaComplex]

dura mater?

Yeah - the answer in the rubric they prepared was 'a) thecal layer/thecal sac/dural sac' and 'b) subdural haematoma'.

 

[WedgeDawg]

We get to take ours as a group in teams of 4. About a minute per tag/scan, 35 total, touching was allowed unless the item was super delicate and might break if touched.

 

[petrosgp]

Jeez, what's with all this organization? In mine, you just showed up at a specific date and time and a professor asked you to identify a bunch of structures. Nothing specific, just stuff that popped into his mind right at that moment.

 

[Oh_Gee]

Jeez, what's with all this organization? In mine, you just showed up at a specific date and time and a professor asked you to identify a bunch of structures. Nothing specific, just stuff that popped into his mind right at that moment.

1 prof, 1 student?

 

[CharakaComplex]

Jeez, what's with all this organization? In mine, you just showed up at a specific date and time and a professor asked you to identify a bunch of structures. Nothing specific, just stuff that popped into his mind right at that moment.

We've got that as well, they put it under the viva voce section! We've got viva for gross anatomy (my specimens for the finals were the left lung, superolateral surface of the cerebrum and the thigh); surface anatomy (where you pick a random card with two features and you mark them in front of a prof); radiology (I got a lot of GI series contrast media questions); histology (we're given two preprepared slides and asked to focus + identify + explain the slides); osteology (first rib and pelvic bone for me); and embryology (I had the miserable luck of getting to explain the placenta and the good luck of getting to explain situs inversus).