CARDIAC ANATOMY INSTRUCTION BY ULTRAFAST COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY VERSUS CADAVER DISSECTION

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. This prospective study was designed to determine to what extent an ultrafast computed tomography (UFCT) videotape of the heart could enhance or substitute for cadaver dissection in teaching anatomy to first-year medical students. METHODS. A student population (n = 180) was randomized into four groups. Group 1 (control) received no instruction, group 2 viewed the videotape, group 3 participated in cardiac dissection, and group 4 performed cardiac dissection and viewed the videotape. After randomized instruction, each group was tested with 10 UFCT static cardiac images and 8 cardiac cadaver specimens. A different population consisting of nonrandomized fourth-year medical students also was tested. RESULTS. The results point to an interaction between instruction and the manner in which it was assessed. There was more carryover from the videotape-acquired knowledge to specimens than from dissection-acquired knowledge to UFCT images. CONCLUSIONS. Cardiac UFCT instruction resulted in dramatically improved image testing performance. This image-acquired knowledge was not sufficiently transferred to cardiac specimen identification; thus, videotape instruction should not replace dissection for teaching cardiac anatomy. Video provided instruction benefits beyond that gained through general clinical experience.