Human Body block evaluations

With two units under my belt, I think it's time to describe the evaluation process. Evaluations for Unit 1 (back and extremities) and Unit 2 (thorax, abdomen, and pelvis) each consisted of 4 components: 1) Dissection quiz, 2) Dissection lab practical exam, 3) Clinical quiz, and 4) Written exam.

Dissection quiz (30 points)

The purpose of this is to see how good of a dissection job we did. Since the dissection was a group effort, each dissection group of 8 students receives a group grade. The instructor asks us to identify 15 structures, 2 points per structure. We must first correctly identify each structure. This usually isn't too difficult between the 8 of us. Then, we are evaluated on whether the structure is intact or not and whether we adequately cleaned it. The reality is that most groups do very well on the dissection quiz, which helps to boost our overall grade a bit.

Dissection lab practical exam (75 points)

On the morning of the dissection lab practical exam, the instructors wake up at an ungodly hour and "stage" the cadavers. What this means is that they pin certain structures that we will be asked to identify during the test and drape the cadaver with a sheet in such a way that exposes just enough of the cadaver to allow us to figure out what the structure is. Really, in this way, they're testing our knowledge of certain anatomical relationships.

There are 50 "stations" total, with one structure at each station (which means each station is worth 1.5 points). Some of the stations aren't at cadavers but instead present a painted bone and ask what muscle or ligament attaches to the painted surface. Other stations present a cross sectional image of the body with an arrow pointing to a particular structure and ask for its identification.

Before the test, we all line up outside in the hallway and nervously chat with each other while waiting for the instructors to invite us in. Then, we're each given a clipboard and an answer sheet with a number at the top of the page. That number is the station number where we start at (1-50). Only one student stands at each station at any given time.

The test starts with recorded instructions played over a loud speaker telling us that we'll have one minute to identify the structure at each station, that a tone indicates that our time is up and we have to move onto the next station, and that we may not touch or move any of the cadavers. The first tone starts us off, and we rotate through each of the 50 stations. After we've gone though all 50 stations, we're given 10 minutes during which we can hop around to any of the stations that we were unsure about to check our answers or change them.

My experience with the lab practical has been mixed. Sometimes I identify the structure right away and spend the rest of that minute collecting my thoughts, calming myself down, or trying to figure out a previous structure that I was unsure about. Other times, I have absolutely no idea and spend that minute looking at surrounding structures for a clue as to what it is.

The dissection lab practical exam is definitely the most difficult and stressful part of the evaluation process for me.

Clinical quiz (25 points)

The clinical quiz is a pretty straightforward multiple choice test taken and scored online. It's a "take home" quiz that becomes available 48 hours prior to and must be taken before the written exam. The material is pulled from a few clinical lectures that we get toward the end of the unit and also from the standardized patient sessions. Pneumothorax, inguinal hernias, and irregular heart sounds were all big topics on the Unit 2 clinical quiz.

Written exam (150 points)

Most of the points from the unit come from the written exam. It is also pretty straightforward, but there's much more variety in the types of questions asked.

One question type on the Unit 1 written exam asked you to match a given nerve with a list of bones to which the innervated target structures attach. So, for example, the inferior gluteal nerve innervates the gluteus maximus muscle, which attaches to the sacrum, inominate (hip), and femur. Another question type goes one logic step further, asking you to match a lesion in a given nerve with a functional deficit of movement. This deftly lumps together innervation, muscle attachments, and muscle actions all into one question.

Both exams had blood flow questions, which I actually enjoy. In these questions, you're asked to trace the blood flow from the aorta, through the capillary bed of a given target muscle, and back to the right atrium of the heart. The question and answer look something like this:

Question:
Trace the flow of blood from the arch of the aorta to the right atrium passing through a capillary bed in the right gluteus medius muscle.

Answer:
Arch of the aorta > Thoracic aorta > Abdominal aorta > R common iliac a. > R internal iliac a. > R superior gluteal a. > Capillary bed > R superior gluteal v. > R internal iliac v. > R common iliac v. > Inferior vena cava > Right atrium

To make things interesting, Dr. Carry will also throw in a few blockages, which forces us to take a slightly different route to the capillary bed through what are called anastomoses, or communications between two different arteries. These communications are the body's way of keeping itself alive in case something goes wrong, like a blocked artery.

Walking down the halls of Ed1 (the building where most of the first and second year classes are held) before the exams, you would see maps of arteries and veins scrawled all over the whiteboards in the study rooms. Committing these schematics to memory serves as a guide for learning which artery supplies which structures and as a jumping off point for understanding more anatomically relevant relationships.

A substantial portion of the questions are fill-in-the-blank, most of which test knowledge of anatomical relationships between structures. There are also a few multiple choice and true/false questions to round things out.

The written exam is loosely proctored, which means that we are given a firm 4 hours to complete the test but are allowed to take it outside the lecture hall anywhere on campus. I'm not sure if other medical schools operate this way, but here, the nature of our Honor Code affords us this privilege.