The perceptions of anatomists in the US and Europe of the skills and attributes required of newly-recruited medical students

Background and purpose Admission procedures for recruiting students to medical school vary considerably across the world. Notwithstanding such variability, it is important to know what skills and attributes are required of the students by their teachers on entering medical school. Procedures Anatomists are often the teachers who first meet the students as they enter medical school and this report analyses, by means of a questionnaire, the putative skills required of their medical students by anatomists from the U.S.A. and Europe. Findings The findings from a questionnaire suggest that there are few differences between anatomists in the U.S.A. and Europe, even though medical students are postgraduates in the U.S.A. but undergraduates in Europe. Furthermore, the skill requirements expected of the students differed only slightly according to the gender and age of the anatomists and to whether or not they had clinical qualifications. The most important skills and attributes required of the students were found to be: good study skills and abilities to study independently, understanding of biology (but not chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics, or understanding of the scientific method), memory/factual retention, communication and teamwork skills, problem-solving abilities, and attributes related to life-long learning, readiness to be challenged, and emotional stability and conscientiousness. Conclusions Anatomists within the U.S.A. and Europe essentially agree on the skills and attributes initially required of their medical students, as well as those not deemed initially important. These findings are presented with the view of enhancing admission policies and procedures for admitting students into medical schools

Histoire des " Big Five " : OCEAN des cinq grands facteurs de la personnalité. Introduction du Big Five Inventory français ou BFI-FR

International audienceLa description de la personnalité a été conçue à partir d'une variété de points de vue théoriques et à différents niveaux d'abstraction. Dans l'étude de la personnalité, l'unité la plus fréquemment utilisée pour mesurer les différences individuelles a été le trait. Un consensus semble se dégager actuellement sur une taxonomie générale des traits de la personnalité, les cinq facteurs de la personnalité, connus sous le nom des " Big Five ", expression introduite par Goldberg. Le but de cet article est de resituer l'élaboration de la version originale du Big Five Inventory (BFI) de John, Donahue et Kentle (1991) dans son histoire, et parmi les autres tests disponibles le " TDA ou trait descriptive adjective " de Goldberg et le " NEO PI-R ou NEO personality inventory revised " de Costa et McCrae. La revue reprend les différents stades de conceptualisation des catégories qui furent élaborées à partir d'une sélection d'adjectifs de dictionnaires permettant de différencier un individu d'un autre. Seuls les traits seront utilisés pour l'élaboration des trois tests mentionnés. Les " Big Five " retrouvés à partir d'analyses factorielles peuvent se résumer en cinq facteurs réplicables connus sous le nom de OCEAN ou CANOE de la personnalité, moyen mnémotechnique pour E (Extraversion, Énergie, Enthousiasme) ; A (Agréabilité, Altruisme, Affection) ; C (Conscience, Contrôle, Contrainte) ; N (Émotions Négatives, Névrosisme, Nervosité) ; O (Ouverture, Originalité, Ouverture d'esprit), ordre établi par les auteurs du BFI. La structure des " Big Five " regroupe à un haut niveau d'abstraction les points communs de la plupart des systèmes existant sur la description de la personnalité et met à disposition un modèle descriptif intégré pour des recherches sur la personnalité

A core syllabus for the teaching of neuroanatomy to medical students

There is increasingly a call for clinical relevance in the teaching of biomedical sciences within all health care courses. However, this presupposes that there is a clear understanding of what can be considered core material within the curricula. To date, the anatomical sciences have been relatively poorly served by the development of core syllabuses, particularly for specialized core syllabuses such as neuroanatomy. One of the aims of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA) and of the European Federation for Experimental Morphology (EFEM) is to formulate, on an international scale, core syllabuses for all branches of the anatomical sciences using Delphi Panels consisting of anatomists, scientists, and clinicians to initially evaluate syllabus content. In this article, the findings of a Delphi Panel for neuroanatomy are provided. These findings will subsequently be published on the IFAA website to enable anatomical (and other cognate learned) societies and individual anatomists, clinicians, and students to freely comment upon, and elaborate and amend, the syllabuses. The aim is to set internationally recognized standards and thus to provide guidelines concerning neuroanatomical knowledge when engaged in course developmen

Attitudes and responses of medical sudents and professional anatomists to dissecting different regions of the body

Although there have been many studies assessing emotional responses of medical students to the dissecting room experience, little is known about whether dissecting particular regions of the human body cause more concern than others. Furthermore, no studies have been conducted on the concerns of professional anatomists. In this study, we assessed the hypothesis that medical students are more concerned about the dissection of the face, the perineum and the extremities of the limbs. We also hypothesized that there are gender differences. For the reactions of a group of professional anatomists from the United States and Europe we hypothesized that they were less concerned than the medical students and showed no differences across the regions of the body. The hypotheses were tested by means of questionnaires distributed to medical students at Cardiff University and at the Descartes Paris University who had recently completed their anatomy courses and to anatomists working at universities in Europe and the USA. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the ethical committees at the Cardiff School of Biosciences and at Paris and all data was obtained by consent of the respondents and remained confidential. The findings were complex, although the level of concern was low overall. Some regional differences were discerned, particularly concerning the face, the perineum, the hand and the female chest. Anatomists were less concerned than the students and female students and female anatomists showed more concern than their male counterparts. Few differences were discerned however between student respondents who had positive and neutral attitudes to gender “politics” and those who espoused negative views. We recommend that, at the start of an anatomy dissection course, time is spent dealing with sensitive issues (including equality and diversity issues), emotional responses, and matters pertaining to mortality. However, we argue that this should not involve hiding regions of the body, nor overreacting to the natural anxiety of students, since doing either of these things could enhance negative reactions and stifle the progress of the student from being a layperson to a competent healthcare professional. Clin. Anat. 32:253–267, 2019. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Sexism and anatomy, as discerned in textbooks and as perceived by medical students at Cardiff University and University of Paris Descartes

Contemporary textbooks of anatomy and surface anatomy were evaluated to ascertain whether they were gender-neutral. The evidence of this, and previous studies, suggests that, both in terms of imagery and text, many textbooks lack neutrality. To further investigate such matters, we provided second-year medical students studying at Cardiff University (n = 293) and at the Paris Descartes University (n = 142) during the 2011–2012 academic year with a questionnaire inviting them to address the possibility that social/gender factors hinder the dispassionate representation of anatomy. Ethical approval was obtained from both Cardiff and Paris universities. Eighty-six percent of the students at Cardiff and 39% at Paris Descartes responded and provided data for analysis. The hypothesis tested is that medical students perceive a gender bias that is reflected in the books they read and the tuition they receive. Our findings suggest that, while students recognise the importance of gender issues and do not wish to associate with sexism, most are unaware of the possible negative aspects of sexism within anatomy. In this respect, the findings do not support our hypothesis. Nevertheless, we recommended that teachers of anatomy and authors of anatomy textbooks should be aware of the possibility of adverse effects on professional matters relating to equality and diversity issues

The legal and ethical framework governing Body Donation in Europe-1st update on current practice

Previously, we have reported on the legal and ethical aspects and current practice of body donation in several European countries, reflecting cultural and religious variations as well as different legal and constitutional frameworks. We have also established good practice in body donation. Here we shall further extend the legal and ethical frameworks in place and also focus on novelties in the law and different directives. Of particular interest are points that address the commercialization of human bodies and body parts and weaknesses in the legal directives. Therefore, it is important to define what is ethical and what needs to be considered unethical in body donation and the subsequent utilisation of human bodies for teaching and research.peer-reviewe

The attitudes of European medical students towards the clinical importance of neuroanatomy

The attitudes of medical students towards the clinical importance of neuroanatomy have been little studied. Because it has been reported that medical students find neuroanatomy difficult and can have ‘neurophobia’, here we test the hypothesis that early-stage medical students across Europe have a low regard for neuroanatomy’s clinical relevance. The work was conducted under the auspices of the Trans-European Pedagogic Research Group (TEPARG), with just over 1500 students from 12 European medical schools providing responses to a survey (52% response rate) that assessed their attitudes using Thurstone and Chave methodologies. Regardless of the university surveyed, and of the teaching methods employed for neuroanatomy, our findings were not consistent with our hypothesis. However, the students had a less favourable opinion of neuroanatomy’s importance compared to gross anatomy; although their attitudes were more positive than previously reported for histology and embryology. The extent to which neuroanatomy plays a significant role in the early years of medical education is moot. Nevertheless, we conclude that in addition to newly recruited medical students being informed of the subject’s role in a healthcare profession, we advocate the use of modern imaging technologies to enhance student understanding and motivation and cognisance of the core syllabus for the subject being developed by the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA)

Origine et enjeu de la dénomination "pied-noir"

Assante, Michèle et Odile Plaisant - « Origins and stakes of the name pied-noir ». Since its comeback during the Algerian War, the expression "Pied-Noir" has come into its own. If one goes by its shifting definitions, its power to designate is extremely flexible. An obscure etymology leaves the door open to imagination and to a made-to-order genealogy. For a population whose territory no longer exists, the term has the advantage of reconciling a-temporality and a-territoriality and replaces other denominations which are too tightly linked to a specific historical period and this unexportable into the future.Depuis sa réapparition, pendant la guerre d'Algérie, le vocable "Pied-Noir" "a fait carrière". A en juger par la mouvance de sa définition, son pouvoir de nommer témoigne d'une grande flexibilité. Son étymologie obscure laisse la porte ouverte à l'imagination pour une généalogie sur mesure. Pour une population dont le territoire de référence n'existe plus, il présente le privilège de concilier a-temporalité et a-territorialité et supplante d'autres dénominations inféodées à une période historique et non exportables dans le futur.Assante Michèle, Plaisant Odile. Origine et enjeu de la dénomination "pied-noir". In: Langage et société, n°60, 1992. D'où parlent les mots ? Le terrain de l'étymologie, sous la direction de Diana Rey-Hulmann . pp. 49-65

Anatomie et morphogenèse des plexus veineux vertébraux et des ligaments longitudinaux de la colonne vertébrale lombaire

Notre étude concerne les structures fibreuses et veineuses qui entourent les corps vertébraux et les disques intervertébraux lombaires. Les plexus veineux vertébraux internes et antérieurs et les ligaments longitudinaux étaient bien identifiés dès les stades les plus précoces de notre étude. Le ligament longitudinal postérieur s individualisait dans un continuum fibreux dès 13 semaines d aménorrhée. La morphologie du ligament longitudinal antérieur était semblable chez tous les fœtus étudiés. Les insertions des ligaments longitudinaux au niveau des corps vertébraux ressemblaient àce qui est décrit dans la littérature. Au niveau des disques intervertébraux, bien qu ayant suivi les fibres latérales des ligaments longitudinaux jusqu aux bords postéro-latéraux des disques, nous n avons pas observé de continuité directe entre ces ligaments. Toutefois, un manchon musculo-aponévrotique et ligamentaire périvertébral renforçait les insertions ligamentaires. Des terminaisons nerveuses libres étaient retrouvées dans les ligaments antérieur et postérieur, suggérant une origine ligamentaire aux douleurs lombaires. La reconstruction 3D était complémentaire de l étude histologique, permettant de visualiser dans l espace les structures veineuses et ligamentaires. La veine ilio-lombaire n était pas en continuité directe avec la veine lombaire ascendante. Elle constituait un système veineux lombaire inférieur descendant qui se drainait, avec ou sans tronc commun, dans les veines iliaques. Ce système appartient aux plexus veineux vertébraux externes qui sont avalvulaires; le sens du courant varie en fonction de la pression intra-abdominale.Our study was concerned with the fibrous and venous structures surrounding the lumbar vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs. Internal and anterior vertebral venous plexus and longitudinal ligaments were well identified from very early stages of fetal development. The posterior longitudinal ligament appeared as vertical fibrous bands from 13 weeks (amenorrhea). The morphology of the anterior longitudinal ligament was similar in all fetuses studied. The attachments of the longitudinal ligaments at the level of the vertebral bodies corresponded to descriptions found in the literature. At the level of the intervertebral discs, although the lateral fibres of the longitudinal ligaments extended up to the postero-lateral edges of the discs, a direct continuity between these ligaments was not observed. However, a musculo-aponeurotic and perivertebral ligamentous sheath was reinforcing these attachments. Free nerve endings were present in the anterior and posterior ligaments, suggesting that lumbar pain could originate from the ligaments. Complementary to the histological study, 3D reconstruction allowed the visualisation of venous and ligamentous structures in space. The iliolumbar vein was not in direct continuity with the ascending lumbar vein. It formed a descending inferior lumbar venous system draining into the iliac veins, with or without a common trunk. This system belongs to the external vertebral venous plexus, which are avalvular. The direction of blood flow in the iliolumbar vein is variable and depends on the intra abdominal pressure. In case of injury, it may result in massive haemorrhage.ORSAY-PARIS 11-BU Sciences (914712101) / SudocSudocFranceF