Promoting cultural awareness, professionalism, and communication skills in medicine through anatomy: The Deaf culture session

A scoping review of Deaf awareness programs in Health professional education

Deaf awareness aims to promote understanding about Deaf and hard of hearing people, with the goal of reducing barriers between Deaf and hearing populations; and is particularly pertinent for health professional students as they need to learn to communicate effectively with a range of population groups. This scoping review aims to provide an overview of literature examining Deaf awareness programs provided to health professional students during their initial training. We searched four medical and public health databases and registers using terms related to Deaf awareness. We used the PRISMA-ScR reporting standards checklist for scoping reviews. We identified 10,198 citations, with 15 studies included in the final review. Searches were performed during August to September 2022, and April 2023. Studies were included provided they examined Deaf awareness content or programs within health professional education. Data were extracted by two independent reviewers who screened all abstracts using Rayyan software, followed by discussion to achieve knowledge synthesis and agreement. In all, a total of 15 articles from six countries were identified across health professional student disciplines including pharmacy, nursing, audiology, inter-professional and medical programs. The review found sparse evidence of research into Deaf awareness programs delivered to health professional students, with delivery often solely to small groups of students, indicating why so few students can access information about how to communicate effectively with Deaf and hard of hearing patients during their initial training programs. This scoping reviewed showed evidence of promising benefits for health professional students undertaking Deaf awareness programs during their undergraduate education. The importance of communicating with Deaf and hard of hearing patients and attaining Deaf cultural competencies for health professional students should be investigated in future research.

"They still phone even though they know I'm deaf": exploring experiences of deaf people in health services in Wales, UK

BACKGROUND

Deaf and hard of hearing people persistently experience barriers accessing health services, largely due to ineffective communication systems, a lack of flexible booking arrangements, and a lack of Deaf awareness training for health professional staff.

METHODS

Face to face focus groups were conducted with 66 Deaf and hard of hearing people in Deaf clubs across Wales, UK. Thematic analysis was undertaken.

RESULTS

Responses identified from focus groups are reported as barriers faced using health services, improvements that would make a difference, impact of accessibility of health services, and a potential Sign language badge for healthcare staff.

CONCLUSIONS

Deaf people report that health professionals lack training on Deaf awareness and do not know how to communicate effectively with Deaf and hard of hearing people. Further research into Deaf awareness and training resources for health professionals are needed to establish what improves Deaf cultural competencies, and ultimately makes healthcare experiences more positive for people who are Deaf.

Integrating digital literacies and scientific communication in a multimedia anatomy group assignment to advance contextual learning

Anatomists are facing a new generation of learners who will study and work in a technology-rich environment. Indeed, digital technologies are tremendously changing how information and knowledge are communicated and retrieved. However, it remains unclear whether an anatomy assessment can be designed to promote contextual learning through integrating a digital communication strategy. To investigate this, assessment methods were diversified in the first-year neuroanatomy and third-year regional anatomy curricula through implementing a multimedia human anatomy group assignment integrating digital literacies and scientific communication. Through completing this multimedia assignment, students demonstrated their anatomy knowledge transfer using a range of approaches. The main mode of presentations chosen in the two anatomy units were non-animated video presentations (~50%), animated video presentations (~30%), storyboards (~10%), podcasts (~3%), and filmed videos (~3%). A 5-point Likert scale learning and teaching survey was conducted for a total of 195 undergraduate health science students to evaluate students' perception of this group assignment. The majority of students (70-80%) strongly agreed or agreed that the multimedia group assignment helped their teamwork skills. Students who produced animated videos significantly outperformed those who adopted the non-animated presentations during the end-of-semester theory examination (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates that an anatomy group assignment integrating digital literacy and scientific communication is an effective assessment strategy associated with a positive learning experience and outcome. This inquiry-based assignment promotes learning through assessment, allowing students to not only consolidate and extend anatomy knowledge but also developing effective digital communication skills, providing new insights into non-didactic anatomy assessments.

A thematic analysis of students' discussions on death and body donation in international online focus groups

Historically, Anatomy education is an in-person discipline involving exposure to human body donors that facilitates personal and professional growth through, in part, the initiation of reflection on the topic of death. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic the decreased exposure to cadaveric anatomy for many health professions students may have influenced the depth of their individual reflections on this topic. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the effect of an alternate approach-focus group discussions between peers with varying degrees of exposure to cadaveric material-that may offer one strategy to stimulate deep reflection on the topic of death. A programmatic intervention was introduced, wherein students (n = 221) from 13 international universities discussed differences in their anatomy courses during small focus group sessions as part of an online exchange program. An inductive semantic thematic analysis was conducted on responses to an open-ended text-response question on how the activity influenced students' reflections about death. Resulting themes were organized into categories that described the content and topics of the students' discussions as they grappled with this sensitive topic. The students reportedly engaged in deep reflection and expressed an increased sense of connectedness with their peers, despite their disparate exposure levels to cadaveric anatomy and being physically distanced. This demonstrates that focus groups with students experiencing different laboratory contexts can be used to help all students reflect on the topic of death and that interchanges between dissecting and non-dissecting students can initiate thoughts about death and body donation among non-dissecting students.

Assessing how students value learning communication skills in an undergraduate anatomy and physiology course

Students, particularly those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and healthcare-related programs, should develop proficient interpersonal skills, including communication. To help students develop effective communication skills, instructors need to consider the value students give to learning these skills. The Student Attitudes Toward Communication Skills Survey (SATCSS) was developed to measure how undergraduate students value learning communication skills based on Expectancy-Value Theory across three modes of communication (verbal, written, non-verbal). The survey was given to students interested in healthcare professions and enrolled in an undergraduate anatomy and physiology (A&P) course (n = 233) at a Midwest research active university. The survey showed evidence of validity, measuring two components: (1) "Value to Profession" (attainment and utility value) and (2) "Value to Self" (intrinsic value and cost). There was a significant difference in sub-scores among the four task values such that students thought that learning communication skills was important and relevant (high attainment and utility value) but not interesting (low intrinsic value) and costly. Students with high total scores valued communication skills across all four task values. As total value scores decreased, it was first due to students finding learning communication skills to be time prohibitive and then a lack of interest in learning communication skills. Based on these results, it is recommended that instructors incorporate communication skills training into content that is already part of their A&P course to reduce time concerns. Additional recommendations include using reflective activities and humor to increase student interest.

Promoting more future-ready anatomy education after the Covid-19 pandemic: A scoping review

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic caused an abrupt transition from face-to-face to online anatomy teaching, learning, and assessment. Although online education has ensured the continuity of anatomy education during the pandemic, its implementation has been challenging, and its effectiveness has been questioned. Therefore, literature pertinent to online anatomy education during the pandemic is crucial to explain Covid-19's disruptions to this field. Accordingly, this scoping review explored changes, disruptions, and gaps in anatomy teaching and assessment during Covid-19 using an enhanced version of Arksey and O'Malley's six-stage protocol. Five online databases were searched for articles that described changes and disruptions in anatomy education. Three independent researchers were involved in titles, abstracts, and full texts screening, while another four researchers were independently involved in data extraction, charting, and synthesis. This review revealed six themes: immediate strategic plans and actions, teaching and learning changes, online assessment practice, students' and educators' receptivity and adaptability, online learning and assessment effects, and future directions. It also revealed four gaps: non-future-ready curricula, learning obstacles, administrative and teaching challenges, and online education ethical issues. The results were reported in tabular and narrative forms, following the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR guidelines). Understanding the evolution and gaps in anatomy education during the Covid-19 pandemic will help anatomists design future-ready, adaptable curricula.