“Digital Porcine GI Tract”: testing the efficacy of a digital anatomy tool

Veterinary students at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences must learn the structures of the porcine gastrointestinal (GI) tract. However, access to porcine cadaver material is limited. We developed a digital tool: 'Digital Porcine GI Tract'. This study evaluates the tool's effectiveness in enhancing students' ability to identify structures on cadaver material. Students were split into 2 groups: Group A was given access to the tool and their use was tracked; Group B was not given access. After one week, both groups took a quiz on pig GI tract prosections. Students were asked whether they had viewed cadaver pig GI tracts in lab before the quiz and then divided into three Groups: (1) Students who used the digital tool, (2) Students who studied the pig GI tract prosections and (3) Students who did neither. As expected, students in Groups 1 and 2, mean score of 85% and 62% respectively, outperformed those in Group 3 on the quiz, mean score of 49%. More importantly, students in Group 1 performed better on the quiz than students in Group 2. Digital learning tools are viable for supplementing cadaver material in veterinary anatomy education, particularly when cadaver material is limited.