101 - Perceptions of Osteopathic Medical Students on Whole Body Donation and the Anatomy Experience

Poster Board Number: 101
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Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Co-authors:

Sara Allison, PhD - Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine; Andrew Ferriby, PhD - Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, The George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences; Caroline Gundler - Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine-Dublin

Abstract Body : Introduction: Whole-body dissection is a key milestone for many medical students. Osteopathic students have the unique opportunity to practice Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Treatment (OMM/OMT) which are manual techniques to treat structural and functional issues with bones, muscles, and joints by utilizing the connection between the neuromusculoskeletal system and the rest of the body to restore function. The anatomical knowledge gained through human dissection could be important for learning OMM/OMT; however, there is no literature on the utility of human dissection in learning these skills.

Methods: A Qualtrics survey was administered to 3^rd and 4^th year osteopathic medical students in their clinical rotations at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OUHCOM). The 3^rd year students participated in dissections during their pre-clinical education, while 4^th year students used prosections due to COVID-19. The survey included 8 Likert-scale items, 1 select-all-that-apply item, and 1 open-ended question. Statistical and thematic analyses are ongoing with the preliminary descriptive statistics presented.

Results: Initial results demonstrate that of the 110 students that responded to the survey, 65.5% (n=72) strongly agreed or agreed that dissection is important to the medical school experience. Regarding OMM/OMT, 35.5% (n=39) strongly agreed or agreed that dissection is important to learning OMM principles and 41.8% (n=46) strongly agreed or agreed that dissection was valuable to understanding clinical applications of OMM/OMT in the preclinical years. 34.5% (n=38) strongly disagreed or disagreed that dissection was valuable to implementation of OMT in clinical rotations. Students perceived musculoskeletal back, head and neck, and upper extremity dissections/prosections as the most important regions for their OMM training. Overall, 61.4% (n=51) reported that human dissection enhanced their OMM/OMT training.

Conclusions: 3^rd and 4^th year medical students at OUHCOM see value in human dissection to their overall medical school experience. Concerning their OMM experience, student perceptions related to the utility of dissection to OMT were variable. However, certain regions of the body were more applicable to OMT practice than others.

Significance: This study highlights the perceived importance of anatomy for osteopathic medical students. The most important topics for these students were musculoskeletal; this could guide educators to connect OMT principles in the anatomy lab during these sessions or reinforce this anatomy in clinical years. By highlighting the connection between gross anatomy lab and OMM/OMT, educators can help students deepen their understanding of these principles through human dissection/prosection.