Student Approaches to Anatomy Learning are Influenced by Clinically Relevant Peer‐Peer Teaching

An anatomic translation of the clinical handoff was developed to facilitate peer‐peer teaching and to enhance integration of basic science anatomy with clinical medicine. The anatomic handoff's impact on the donor dissection environment was evaluated using a qualitative grounded theory analysis of student experiences (n = 32) and constant comparative method. Kappa analysis was used to evaluate agreement between givers’ and receivers’ Likert data which reported student perceptions of handoff usefulness and giver preparedness. Three themes emerged from students’ summaries of anatomic handoff experiences: “Learning by teaching”, “acquiescing to doing more with less”, and a “distrust of the peer handoff process”. Themes aligned with specific handoff roles (giver, receiver, or both); the giver role associated with the positive impact that teaching peers has on anatomy education, while the receiver role correlated negatively to the handoff experience because of a skepticism of peers’ abilities. All themes demonstrated that the anatomic handoff encouraged students’ focus on knowledge preparation and reflection outside of designated class time and provided an effective mechanism for promoting student focus on anatomical relationships, self‐directed learning, and condensation of complex material. Statistical analysis suggests that students’ perception of handoff usefulness correlates with allocation of time for these deeper learning strategies. Together these data suggest that a clinical framework within basic science coursework influences the anatomy learning environment, improves student desire for self‐directed learning, and provides opportunities for student's to practice essential clinical skills, suggesting that this approach may be useful to introduce clinical context into basic science learning.