Student and Educator Perceptions of Asynchronous Anatomical Education and a Digital Anatomy Learning Resource

Within the modern landscape of anatomical education, technology-enhanced learning strategies have increased remote resource provision, while the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for effective online materials due to the expansion of asynchronous approaches. This work aimed to investigate stakeholder perceptions of remote anatomy learning and the impacts of COVID-19 on the availability and quality of asynchronous resources, and participant views of ongoing post-pandemic curricula strategies. Additionally, learner and educator perspectives of Complete Anatomy (3D4Medical Elsevier) have been explored, and their views of the resource when embedded within both synchronous teaching and remote self-directed learning have been identified. Complete Anatomy is an anatomy application that enables visualization, manipulation, and interaction of three-dimensional digital models. This resource has been utilized by Newcastle University educators since 2018/2019 during in-person and online teaching, with remote student access provided since 2020/2021. A student-partner strategy for research design, implementation, and data analysis was employed. A second-year medical cohort, who had experienced pre-pandemic and pandemic-era remote anatomy learning and Complete Anatomy, responded to Likert-type and free-text questionnaire items. Online focus groups were conducted to gain deeper insights of learner and educator perspectives. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, semi-quantitative content analysis, and qualitative thematic analysis. Participants predominantly reported effective provision of pre-pandemic and COVID-19-era remote anatomy resources and would welcome blended approaches to future curriculum delivery. Learners perceived that, with training and guidance, Complete Anatomy constituted a valuable supplementary learning resource for consolidation and three-dimensional visualization of anatomy. Educators noted the impact of rapid responses to COVID-19 on the creation of effective remote resources, despite technological challenges and concerns regarding online cadaveric teaching, and identified the value of Complete Anatomy in providing an important link between lecture-based and practical anatomy teaching. Our findings will have implications for the design, development, and implementation of remote approaches and digital anatomy resources within blended post-pandemic anatomy curricula.