Functional Anatomy Training: An interdisciplinary approach to enhancing student wellbeing in health professions education.

Abstract

Research objectives Student wellbeing in health professions education has become an important area of research. Whilst mindfulness and other psychological interventions are increasingly used in higher education, the physical aspect of well-being can be overlooked. In a preliminary ethnographic study of medical student behaviours in our institution, we found that digital device overuse and sedentary behaviours were areas of serious concern for our students, as was their overall self-reported lack of physical activity. In order to counteract this escalating trend of sedentary learning, a team of researchers from nursing, public health, medicine and biomedical sciences examined the best practice in the use of physical movement for the teaching of a core health sciences discipline; anatomy. The use of a combination of yoga and pilates has been used in gross anatomy education of medical students and results indicated improvement in anatomical comprehension. Student feedback indicated a high degree of acceptability of the teaching method and improvement of student awareness of health in general. The use of physical movement as a pedagogy has been employed in health-related education arenas, such as physiotherapy training, where such programmes improved students’ awareness of their own movements. Outside of health professions education, yoga asanas (poses) have also been used to explore the anatomy of the lower limbs for yoga instructors. In collaboration with colleagues from kinesiology, we developed a new course based on these principles. The course objective was to improve student awareness of the importance of physical wellbeing by incorporating body movement within the academic teaching of anatomy. We present the findings of an in-progress pilot student of a novel programme entitled Functional Anatomy Training. Methodology A 5-session interdisciplinary course was developed using physical movement to teach anatomy. Classes last 50 minutes, in which moderate physical exercise is undertaken as part of the exploration of human anatomy of different systems. A wait-list controlled trial design was adopted for 1st year students of nursing, medicine and biomedical sciences at the University of Hong Kong (n = 25 per group). We will compare a number of student outcomes between intervention and control group, including physical biomarkers; body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, hand grip muscular strength, and functional fitness (by squat test and pushup test). Academic performance improvement will be examined by pre-post comparison on knowledge and application in solving applied anatomical problems and self-reported efficacy in evaluation. Evidence for improvements to student mental and psychological well-being will be examined via PHQ-2 instrument as well as qualitative evaluation, which will be undertaken via focus group interview at the completion of the course. Outcomes Student response to this physical learning intervention has been very positive. As education moves towards increasing e-learning, our physical-academic hybrid course provides a timely counterpoint. At the faculty and institutional level, the programme has raised awareness of the issues surrounding physical wellbeing of the students as part of their overall wellness.