Responses of Korean physical therapy students after practice with a virtual anatomical system in Japan.
Heonsoo Han, Jun Kosaka, Seung-Chul Chon and 2 others
PMID 29184282WHAT IT FOUND
Korean physical therapy students gave positive feedback after a 90-minute virtual anatomy session: positive responses were more than 90% on four practice items and 88% on one, with anatomy scores over 80.
This was satisfaction, not proof of learning.
Key findings
01Positive responses to the practice-related questionnaire were more than 90% in 4 of 5 items and 88% in the fifth item.
02Mean anatomy-related visual analog scores were 80.5, 81.3, 88.8, and 88.8, and all were over 80.
03Sixteen students gave free-text responses, and the reported percentages were 40% non-description, 36% interest, 16% suggestion, and 8% satisfaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 25 students from one university in South Korea took part, so the results may not apply to other physical therapy students. The study used one virtual anatomy system and only a limited list of skeletal muscles and peripheral nerves. It measured student opinions after the practice, not anatomy knowledge, clinical skill, or patient care. There was no control group, pre-test, post-test, or examination score, so learning gains cannot be inferred. The authors state the validity of the virtual anatomy teaching materials was not considered. The practice was in English with Japanese and Korean interpretation, which may have affected responses.
Declared interests
The authors state there is no conflict of interest. They note the students enrolled through a Student Exchange Support Program.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these scores as evidence that virtual anatomy improves anatomy knowledge or clinical competence. The study only surveyed 25 students after a single session, with no control group and no exam scores.