An evidence-based approach to learning clinical anatomy: A guide for medical students, educators, and administrators

The amount of information that medical students learn is voluminous and those who do not use evidence-based learning strategies may struggle. Research from cognitive and educational psychology provides a blueprint on how best to learn science subjects, including clinical anatomy. Students should aim for high-cognitive learning levels as defined in the SOLO taxonomy. Using a real-world example from a modern clinical anatomy textbook, we describe how to learn information using strategies that have been experimentally validated as effective. Students should avoid highlighting and rereading text because they do not result in robust learning as defined in the SOLO taxonomy. We recommend that students use (1) practice testing, (2) distributed practice, and (3) successive relearning. Practice testing refers to nonsummative assessments that contain questions used to facilitate retrieval (e.g., flashcards and practice questions). Practice questions can be fill-in, short-answer, and multiple-choice types, and students should receive explanatory feedback. Distributed practice, the technique of distributing learning of the same content within a single study session or across sessions, has been found to facilitate long-term retention. Finally, successive relearning combines both practice testing and distributed practice. For this strategy, students use practice questions to continue learning until they can answer all of the practice questions correctly. Students who continuously use practice testing, distributed practice, and successive relearning will become more efficient and effective learners. Our hope is that the real-world clinical anatomy example presented in this article makes it easier for students to implement these evidence-based strategies and ultimately improve their learning. Clin. Anat., 2018. (c) 2018 The Authors. Clinical Anatomy published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Clinical Anatomists.