“WHO KNEW ANATOMY COULD BE SUCH FUN?”: COORDINATING​ AND ​INTEGRATING​ FUN-​BASED ​LEARNING​ ACTIVITIES​ WITHIN​ ANATOMY​ TEACHING

The study of human anatomy can challenge students with its volume, complexity and terminology. Furthermore, anatomy nowadays receives less curricular time. Traditionally teaching is cadaver-based supplemented by didactic lectures, radiological and surface anatomy, 3D software, videos and textbooks. Literature shows the benefits of using art or fun-based learning tools such as bodypainting, crossword puzzles, origami as useful adjuncts. At our institution, pre-covid we created and successfully ran an anatomical bodypainting exercise for Head and Neck Surface Anatomy. Origami activities building a tilting larynx (based on a free-to-download template) that helped to conceptualise the laryngeal skeleton in 3D and crossword puzzles created using free-to-use puzzle creators were delivered as optional activities. In 2022, a new weekly Anatomy small-group tutorial (SGT) was introduced into students' timetable to improve team-based learning and strengthen the student community of practice that had disintegrated during the pandemic-related online learning. We coordinated and added to our fun-based activities to place them in some of these SGTs during the year 2 MBChB Head/ Neck and Neuroanatomy blocks. In addition to the above-mentioned activities, we added video clips showing the living anatomy of the larynx and vocal cords in a beatboxer and an online pub-quiz style “Space Race” using a freely available platform Socrative. We surveyed students on their impact. 126 students out of 191 (66% response rate) responded. 98% of the respondents agreed that they enjoyed these sessions and aided learning clinically relevant anatomy. Agreement ratings for individual activities ranged from 82% to 93% with positive free-text comments. There was a lot of laughter during these sessions and one student commented “Who knew Anatomy could be such fun”. We believe there is a place for fun-based learning within the Anatomy study programme, as it fosters active participation, learning as a team and from peers. While activities can be created, there are also freely available resources and technology that could aid educators in developing a programme of activities to enhance traditional Anatomy teaching. Ethics Statement: This is a service evaluation of existing teaching sessions, and no ethical permission was required. Survey participation was optional and consent implied.