The potential added values of high-quality, digitized plastinated specimens in veterinary anatomy education: a small-scale usability study.

Abstract

With anatomical dissections being included decreasingly in medical curricula, contextual anatomical knowledge of students may diminish. On top of that, accessibility of some currently used anatomical studying materials, such as plastinated specimens, can be limited. However, both dissections and plastinated specimens provide much-needed interactions with three-dimensional (3D) structures, that are required to obtain spatial anatomical, and later clinical anatomical knowledge. In order to increase accessibility therefore, the specimens can be digitized. Though, with a broad range of studying materials already available, added value of new materials should be assessed before introduction. This is especially true for digital 3D models, since an individual’s visual-spatial ability (VSA) plays a major role in their reception and usability for studying. This mixed-method study describes the evaluation process of two high-quality digitized plastinated specimens that were created in the context of the veterinary medicine master research program. A small-scale pilot study (n = 5), online surveys (n = 3) and semi-structured interviews (n = 4) were executed to form an objective and subjective indication of digitized plastinated specimen usability for spatial knowledge acquisition. Moreover, general reception of the models by stakeholders was analyzed and feasibility of this study was assessed with a larger-scale future study in mind. No significant results could be produced that either confirm or deny objective usability of the digital models compared to available two-dimensional (2D) and physical 3D materials. Thematic analysis showed the models were received very positively, with a broad range of applications envisioned. Participants agreed that the models improve accessibility of physical plastinated specimens. Moreover, there was a clear preference for the presented digital models over anatomical images when studying anatomy. No influence of VSA on study results could be detected in this study, but its relevance in anatomy education is large and therefore discussed nonetheless.