USE OF THE ANATOMAGE TABLE VIRTUAL DISSECTION TABLE IN LEARNING HUMAN ANATOMY IN THE DOCTOR OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSIDAD LATINA DE PANAMA

Abstract

KEYWORDS:

Virtual dissection, teaching learning, human anatomy.

Traditionally, human anatomy is learned through plastic models, illustrative atlases and real cadavers; nowadays, virtual and interactive tools, internet applications, virtual reality and virtual dissection tables with 3D images of real cadavers are used. However, there is controversy over the preference of tools. In Panama, this topic has not been studied in the universities that use these technologies. The objective of this research was to describe the impact that virtual dissection has on the learning of anatomy in medical students at the Universidad Latina de Panamá. Through action research, a mixed analysis was carried out, the population was focused on students taking the subject during the periods 2021-2, 2022 and 2023-1 excluding pandemic periods, 135 students participated and a questionnaire was applied through the SurveyMonkey application on a Likert scale that was validated by specialist judgment. The results show that 86% of the participants value the virtual dissection to facilitate the understanding of what was learned in the theoretical class and 89% consider that the Table has tools that favor the learning of the subject. The conclusions mention that virtual dissection is an adequate complement for the teaching-learning of human anatomy since it provides the student with strategies for the construction of his own knowledge through the repetitive visualization of images, the interactive management of the Table, the facility to identify organs, systems and their anatomical relationships.