138 - Assessing the Effectiveness of 3D Printed Models for Early Human Development in Medical Student Education

Poster Board Number: 138
There are separate poster presentation times for odd and even posters.
Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Co-authors:

Josephine Chiu - Student Doctor, MS2, Clinical Anatomy, Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine; Robert Rice - Assistant Professor, Clinical Anatomy, Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine; Larry Ciscon - Managing Director, Ion Prototyping Lab; Patrick Davis - Associate Professor, Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine; Jailenne Quiñones-Rodriguez - Assistant Professor, Clinical Anatomy, Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Abstract Body : Embryology provides the foundation for understanding how the human body develops from a single fertilized egg into a complex multicellular organism. Despite its importance for medical student education, prior literature suggests that embryology is given, on average, only 16 course hours within medical school curriculums. Above definite time constraints, there is a burden on educators to strike a balance between teaching developmental anatomy and the exhaustive molecular mechanisms involved in each process.

To address some of these shortcomings, seven 3D printed models were developed to represent structural details of human embryos and reproductive structures spanning the first weeks following fertilization. The models provide a tangible and accurate representation of early human development for medical students to explore hands-on. Following the creation of this novel model set, we sought to determine their effectiveness in enhancing medical student understanding of these developmental stages. For that purpose, the models were incorporated within an introductory embryology lecture for 152 first-year medical students at Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

A parallel design was used to assess these activities. The first part was a questionnaire that evaluated the students' existing understanding of covered concepts as well as perceptions of the models themselves. The second part involved extending the survey questions to assess comprehension of the material and engagement using the models incorporated within the synchronous session. The results indicated a significant improvement, pre-assessment 2.72 ± 1.41 vs. post-assessment 4.00 ± 1.14 p < 0.0001, following the use of the models. When accounting for prior embryology education, we identified a significant main difference in assessment performance. We identified that prior experience significantly contributed to assessment scores. The pre-assessment significance to previous experience, p = 0.0064. Interestingly, we found that post-assessment performance, although still significantly affected by prior experience, had much weaker significance, p = 0.0123, and may likely be due to the large sample size. These promising results suggest that emerging technology, such as 3D printing, effectively increased engagement, concept retention, and deep learning in comprehending complex concepts in early human development.