Enhancing Pre‐Clinical Gross Anatomy Education: A Pilot Study of First‐Year Medical Student Perceptions of Surgical Videos and Cadaveric Surgery

Robotic surgical procedures can show dramatically different views of anatomical structures compared to cadaveric dissection and prosection examination. Medical students may not be adequately prepared for anatomical views seen in these surgeries, which may negatively impact student performance in surgical rotations. In response, many anatomy programs have implemented educational interventions to prepare learners for their surgical experiences. This pilot study examined twelve first-year medical students' perceptions of watching an open versus a robotic surgical video prior to replicating an open cadaveric Transverus Abdominis Release (TAR) surgical procedure. Participants reported that both open and robotic surgical videos were helpful. However, qualitative responses showed participants found robotic videos difficult to understand. While all student teams reported that the cadaveric surgical procedure was difficult, they were able to correctly identify all anatomical structures and desired more cadaveric surgical opportunities. Both surgical videos and cadaveric surgery interventions engaged students and excited them for their surgical rotation. More research is needed to identify strategies to help pre-clinical students effectively utilize surgical videos.