Early clinical exposure as a teaching learning tool to teach neuroanatomy for first year occupational and physical therapy students – our preliminary experience

In most teaching institutions within our country and across the world, first year medical and paramedical students are not provided with any real life clinical experience applicable to the learning of basic sciences within the first twelve months or more of their curriculum. The artificial divide between the pre-clinical sciences and clinical medicine often results in students not encountering patients until the second year of study.

The focus of our study was to assess the effectiveness of an Early Clinical Exposure program as a teaching-learning tool to teach neuroanatomy to first year occupational and physiotherapy students as well as student reactions to it as an alternative approach.

In addition to the regular classroom lectures and examination of prosected specimens, the program included visits to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation ward to learn neuroanatomy in a clinical setting using patients with different neurological disorders. Anatomical basis for loss of function/dysfunction was explained and neuroanatomical pathways revised in the ward classroom. An objective assessment of student performance was done by a written and practical viva voce examination and the marks compared with those of students not exposed to the ECE program.

95% of students found it useful for better understanding and memory of the subject than the conventional classroom method. In view of the excellent rating of the program, ECE may be implemented for effectively teaching neuroanatomy for students.