Integrating Instagram into anatomy and histology education: A comprehensive review of current evidence and pedagogical outcomes

PURPOSE: Instagram is a highly popular social media platform, which has been implemented as a teaching modality of several disciplines. We performed a literature review of its use for anatomy and histology teaching, given the lack of reviews with this purpose. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Scopus, ERIC, and Cochrane library to find articles with the aim to explore the use of Instagram for anatomy or histology teaching. From each included paper, we extracted the following data: author(s), number of participants, way of Instagram implementation in anatomy or histology teaching, educational outcomes (effectiveness or perceptions about the educational usefulness), and their level according to Kirkpatrick hierarchy. RESULTS: Eight articles were included, of which five concerned anatomy and three were about histology. Three articles investigated students' examinations scores (Kirkpatrick level 2b), while five contained only participants' perceptions (Kirkpatrick level 1). The use of Instagram for anatomy and histology teaching has been rated highly positively in all studies, which assessed participants' perceptions. Also, the three studies of level 2b showed significant knowledge acquisition, yet without evidence of long-term retention. There is lack of data about specific factors related to Instagram that could play a role in these educational outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Anatomy and histology educators may be encouraged to incorporate Instagram into their teaching toolkit. This platform could deliver knowledge in small pieces and within limited time. This educational strategy, which is known as microlearning, seems to be promising and warrants further investigation.