Integration of Scientific Competence into Gross Anatomy Teaching Using Poster Presentations: Feasibility and Perception among Medical Students.

Scientific competences as defined in the German competency framework describes the ability to think independently and act scientifically, and forms a central component of medical education. This report describes its integration into anatomical teaching. On the basis of the findings in dissection courses from two consecutive years, students worked on either a case report (n = 70) or an original work (n=6) in the format of a scientific poster while learning to use primary literature. Posters were evaluated by juror teams using standardized evaluation criteria. Student perception of the project was estimated by quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the faculty´s course evaluation and an online-survey. Overall, students worked collaboratively and invested extra-time (median [MD] 3.0 hours) in poster creation. Primary literature was integrated in 90.8% of the posters. Overall poster quality was satisfactory (46.3 ±8.5 [mean ±standard deviation] out of 72 points), but several insufficiencies were identified. Students integrated information gained from the donor´s death certificate, post-mortem full-body computer tomography (CT) scan (22.4%) and histopathological workup (31.6%) in their case reports. Students were positive about the experience of learning new scientific skills (MD 4 on a six-point Likert scale), but free text answers revealed that some students experienced the project as an extra burden in a demanding course. In summary, it was feasible to introduce students to science during the dissection course and to increase interest in science in approximately a third of the survey respondents. Further adjustments to ensure the posters´ scientific quality might be necessary in the future.