A snapshot of anatomy teaching: Peer-led anatomy boot camps - Priming for success?

Pending changes regarding the medical curricula in Germany prompted us, members of the Department of Anatomy at the Medical Faculty of Saarland University, to critically evaluate anatomy teaching with special attention to macroscopic anatomy and the dissection class. Aiming at a thorough assessment we were particularly interested to which extend an optional peer-led tutorial ("anatomy boot camp"), which had preceded the dissection class, impacted the outcome in a series of oral exams of those who had participated. We evaluated a student cohort of 307 students in the fall/winter semester 2015/16 at Saarland University, including those enrolled in medicine and dentistry, by implementing a series of questionnaires specifically designed for five mandatory oral exams during the course of the dissection class. The questionnaires contained different exam-relevant questions as well as several demographic items. The evaluation was complemented by interviews with students and examiners. Participants of the anatomy boot camp generally performed better in all exams and in three of them statistically significant. Items such as gender, age, and previous experiences in the health care professions contributed marginally - if at all - to the overall students' performance. Intriguingly, most students welcomed the idea of implementing questionnaire-based oral exams to balance out the different experience level of the respective examiner. Our study showed that a comparable minimal timely investment on the part of the students to choose to participate in an optional anatomy boot camp was positively correlated with students' performance.

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