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The undergraduate medical programme at Newcastle University (NU) includes a fundamental 'Essentials of Medical Practice' (EOMP) phase comprising the first 2 years of study. This period is designed to support entrants in their transition from further education into the advanced study and practice of clinical medicine. The anatomical sciences of gross anatomy, histology and embryology, and life sciences including physiology, pharmacology and genetics are key disciplines taught within the integrated case-based EOMP curriculum. Learners apply basic science knowledge to clinical scenarios during training in practical examination, communication and reasoning skills. Within the modern pedagogic landscape, the development and introduction of technology-enhanced learning strategies have enhanced the provision of remote learning resources in pre-clinical education. However, the emergence of COVID-19 has resulted in widespread technological challenges for educators and learners, and has raised pedagogic, logistical and ethical concerns. Nonetheless, the pandemic has produced favourable conditions for the creation of valuable digital visualisation strategies for learning and teaching, and for developing and modernising universal approaches to remote education. Here, we describe our technology-enhanced adaptations to COVID-19 across the domains of teaching, learning and academic support for pre-clinical learners studying basic life sciences and clinical skills. Moreover, we outline research-informed digital visualisation solutions to pandemic-era challenges and reflect upon experiences gained within our own educational context. In doing so, we provide insights into the impacts and successes of our interventions. While providing a record of unprecedented contemporary circumstances, we also aim to utilise our observations and experiences of COVID-19 pedagogy when developing ongoing strategies for delivering curricula and futureproofing educational practice., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Embryology and congenital malformations play a key role in multiple medical specialties including obstetrics and paediatrics. The process of learning clinical embryology involves two basic principles; firstly, understanding time-sensitive morphological changes that happen in the developing embryo and, secondly, appreciating the clinical implications of congenital conditions when development varies from the norm. Visualising the sequence of dynamic events in embryonic development is likely to be challenging for students, as these processes occur not only in three dimensions but also in the fourth dimensions of time. Consequently, features identified at any one timepoint can subsequently undergo morphological transitions into distinct structures or may degenerate and disappear. When studying embryology, learners face significant challenges in understanding complex, multiple and simultaneous events which are likely to increase student cognitive load. Moreover, the embryology content is very nonlinear. This nonlinear content presentation makes embryology teaching challenging for educators. Embryology is typically taught in large groups, via didactic lecture presentations that incorporate two-dimensional diagrams or foetal ultrasound images. This approach is limited by incomplete or insufficient visualisation and lack of interactivity.It is recommended that the focus of embryology teaching should instill an understanding of embryological processes and emphasise conceptualising the potential congenital conditions that can occur, linking pre-clinical and clinical disciplines together. A variety of teaching methods within case-based and problem-based curricula are commonly used to teach embryology. Additional and supplementary resources including animations and videos are also typically utilised to demonstrate complex embryological processes such as septation, rotation and folding.We propose that there is a need for embryology teaching in the twenty-first century to evolve. This is particularly required in terms of appropriate visualisation resources and teaching methodologies which can ensure embryology learning is relevant to real-world scenarios. Here we explore embryology teaching resources and methodologies and review existing evidence-based studies on their implementation and impact on student learning. In doing so, we aim to inform and support the practice of embryology educators and the learning of their students., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Within the discipline of anatomical education, the use of donated human cadavers in laboratory-based learning activities is often described as the 'gold standard' resource for supporting student understanding of anatomy. Due to both historical and educational factors, cadaveric dissection has traditionally been the approach against which other anatomy learning modalities and resources have been judged. To prepare human donors for teaching purposes, bodies must be embalmed with fixative agents to preserve the tissues. Embalmed cadavers can then be dissected by students or can be prosected or plastinated to produce teaching resources. Here, we describe the history of cadaveric preservation in anatomy education and review the practical strengths and limitations of current approaches for the embalming of human bodies. Furthermore, we investigate the pedagogic benefits of a range of established modern embalming techniques. We describe relevant cadaveric attributes and their impacts on learning, including the importance of colour, texture, smell, and joint mobility. We also explore the emotional and humanistic elements of the use of human donors in anatomy education, and the relative impact of these factors when alternative types of embalming process are performed. Based on these underpinnings, we provide a technical description of our modern Newcastle-WhitWell embalming process. In doing so, we aim to inform anatomy educators and technical staff seeking to embalm human donors rapidly and safely and at reduced costs, while enhancing visual and haptic tissue characteristics. We propose that our technique has logistical and pedagogic implications, both for the development of embalming techniques and for student visualisation and learning., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Clinical image interpretation is one of the most challenging activities for students when they first arrive at medical school. Interpretation of clinical images concerns the identification of three-dimensional anatomical features in two-dimensional cross-sectional computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images in axial, sagittal and coronal planes, and the recognition of structures in ultrasound and plain radiographs. We propose that a cognitive transition occurs when initially attempting to interpret clinical images, which requires reconciling known 3D structures with previously unknown 2D visual information. Additionally, we propose that this 3D-2D transition is required when integrating an understanding of superficial 2D surface landmarks with an appreciation of underlying 3D anatomical structures during clinical examinations.Based on educational theory and research findings, we recommend that 3D and 2D approaches should be simultaneously combined within radiological and surface anatomy education. With a view to this, we have developed and utilised digital and art-based methods to support the 3D-2D transition. We outline our observations and evaluations, and describe our practical implementation of these approaches within medical curricula to serve as a guide for anatomy educators. Furthermore, we define the theoretical underpinnings and evidence supporting the integration of 3D-2D approaches and the value of our specific activities for enhancing the clinical image interpretation and surface anatomy learning of medical students.

Anatomy forms the basis of clinical examination, surgery and radiology and it is therefore essential that a fundamental understanding of the key concepts, structures and their relationships is gained by medical and healthcare students during their undergraduate training. Anatomy involves the study of three dimensional entities relating to the human body itself and its constituent structures. In our experience, the appreciation of 3D concepts is one of the most demanding areas for medical student learning of anatomy (ben Awadh et al. 2018, unpublished observations). The ability to interpret 3D anatomical features in 2D cross-sectional clinical images can be troublesome, while the dynamic nature of embryological development is a further challenge.The aim of introducing technology enhanced-learning (TEL) approaches into our practice is with a view to enhancing undergraduate medical student learning of clinically relevant anatomy. Here we will explore the importance of visualisation and visual learning in anatomy as a scholarly basis for the integration for TEL approaches. We will then describe examples of visualisation technologies that are currently being implemented within the School of Medical Education at Newcastle University based on a research informed understanding of how students learn anatomy. We will consider the available evidence that supports best practice, identify limitations where they arise, and discuss how these visual 3D learning technologies can be effectively utilised as adjuncts and self-directed resources to supplement more established approaches to undergraduate anatomy education.