K Hinduja | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Problem-based learning: is anatomy a casualty?

INTRODUCTION: The teaching of medical anatomy is changing. Medical schools worldwide are moving away from dissection and lectures to a more integrated course, where basic science and clinical skills are taught simultaneously. Medical students on these integrated courses have reported a lack of confidence in their basic science knowledge, especially concerning anatomy. Our aim was to perform a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to compare anatomical knowledge of two groups of second-year medical students, the first group taught on a traditional course, the second on an integrated course. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Testing was done using a Questionnaire in a "True/False" format. There were 80 students in each group. There was no penalty for an incorrect answer. The test was performed under examination conditions. Papers were marked under blind conditions. Results were analysed using a Student's t test analysis. RESULTS: Those students taught on a traditional course exhibited a significantly higher level of basic anatomical knowledge (p<0.001) than those taught on an integrated course. The students taught on an integrated course showed a much greater range of results. CONCLUSIONS: Students taught on a traditional course have a higher level of anatomical knowledge than those taught on an integrated course. Our results differ from previous studies done in Europe which show no difference between the courses.

Anatomy↗

PubMed2005

The significance of at-risk factors in ultrasound surveillance of developmental dysplasia of the hip. A ten-year prospective study.

Of the 34,723 infants born between 1 June 1992 and 31 May 2002, the hips of 2578 with clinical instability or at-risk factors for developmental dysplasia of the hip were imaged by ultrasound. Instability of the hip was present in 77 patients, of whom only 24 (31.2%) had an associated risk factor. From the 'at-risk' groups, the overall risk of type-III dysplasia, instability and irreducibility was 1:15 when family history, 1:27 when breech delivery and 1:33 when foot deformity were considered as risk factors. Of those hips which were ultrasonographically stable, 88 had type-III dysplasia. A national programme of selective ultrasound screening of at-risk factors for the diagnosis of hip dislocation or instability alone cannot be recommended because of its low predictive value (1:88). However, the incidence of type-III dysplasia and hip dislocation or dislocatability in the groups with clinical instability, family history, breech position and possibly postural foot deformity as risk factors could justify a programme of selective ultrasound imaging.

Breech Presentation↗