CHALLENGES IN LEARNING ANATOMY BY FIRST YEAR BDS STUDENTS, ITS DIFFICULTIES AND ASSESSMENT METHODS PREFERRED BY THEM - A FEEDBACK STUDY

Medical anatomy, a significant component of the first-year curriculum, must be taught at this time when students must acclimate to a whole new environment outside of school. At this moment, it is necessary to address several significant values and behaviours in the students. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the difficulties first-year BDS students encountered in the key areas of anatomy as well as their opinions of certain suggested approaches to problem-solving. Methodology: After obtaining permission from ethical approval committee of the institution, this research will be carried out on the students who have finished their first Prof exam. All students will be told not to put their names on the questionnaire to avoid any prejudice. The study will conduct by providing structured questionnaire via google form to 1st year students irrespective of their performances in Anatomy throughout the year Results: Students were asked to select the area of anatomy that they found most challenging to study in the first questionnaire. The fact that 45 (60%) of students selected gross anatomy indicated that they had difficulty adjusting to and comprehending the subject. Students in embryology said that they could not follow the events 38 (50.6%) and 29 (38.7%) that they could not use the charts and models that were shown to them to apply their theoretical knowledge. , the majority of students 41 (54.6%) chose liked a mix of structured descriptive questions, short answer questions, and multiple-choice questions while followed by Mcq’s 14 (18.7%). Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate how difficult it is for first-year BDS students to master anatomy, especially gross anatomy and embryology. To improve their comprehension and memory of anatomical ideas, students also preferred a mix of evaluation methods, including multiple-choice, short-answer, and structured descriptive questions