Art in Anatomy
First-year student Rachel Reingold established a campus club that helped her peers bone up on anatomy.
Students who took part in the art club drew knowledge from their efforts
Consider the skull. “You may think of it as a spherical bone, and the brain is in it,” said Rachel, who like all 186 members of the Einstein Class of 2021 took the Clinical and Developmental Anatomy course this past academic year. “But ironically, the skull is one of the body’s most complex structures. Besides the brain, it houses vasculature and nerves. Various entry and exit points for blood vessels and nerves—holes known as foramina—are hard to conceptualize if you try to memorize them from a book or lecture.”
Just ask Wesley Thorne and Kristin Williams, two students in this year’s anatomy course. Wesley, a self-described book learner, and Kristin, an auditory learner who loves lectures, were stunned to hear that they had flubbed the part of the midcourse exam known as the individual practical, which involves answering 15 questions about cadavers in the anatomy laboratory. “I had never done so poorly on an exam,” said Wesley.
“We were shocked,” added Kristin.
Hands-On Learning
Kristin Williams displays her drawing of the handThen came an e-mail from Rachel about a new art club where students could draw or paint still-lifes of parts of the human body. “I knew I needed to change my approach,” Kristin said. Wesley agreed: “I was looking for anything to help me with the physical part of anatomy.”
An advanced-placement art student in high school, Rachel continued to draw through college and grad school and was not about to stop. “I was always drawing to understand things,” said Rachel, whose portfolio includes more than 30 anatomical drawings and diagrams. She invited Dr. Sherry Downie, the course director and professor of anatomy and structural biology and of physical medicine and rehabilitation, to serve as advisor to the club.
Dr. Downie said yes—and contributed skulls from her collection to the first Art in Anatomy session in January, 2018. Dr. Downie is a great believer in taking a hands-on approach to anatomy. “One of the favorite things I’ve developed is a paper pelvis that students cut out and staple together,” she said. She also created a paper embryo; more models will surely follow.
Anatomy Comes Alive
Wesley Thorne with his drawing of the skullThe group met in the sixth-floor conference room of the Leo Forchheimer Medical Science Building. Sunlight poured through the windows. Rachel had appealed to the student government for funding, which paid for the paper, pencils and other materials. Dr. Downie brought hot chocolate, and Rachel brewed tea and put on quiet music.
“Art may seem to be an individual activity, but we were chatting about the skulls and digesting anatomical detail through art,” said Rachel. The dozen or so students at the first session found it relaxing and comfortable—even Kristin, who had no art experience beyond high-school art classes.
The session shed light on more than just the structures themselves. “It helped me realize that nothing in real life is going to look like a diagram,” said Wesley, who spent two hours drawing the eye socket of his skull, a task that stretched his art brain beyond his printmaking and watercolor experience. As Kristin observed, “It made it real. It helped me break it down piece by piece from a scary intangible. Now if there’s anything else I ever struggle with, I may draw it out.”
Might we therefore draw the conclusion that their Art in Anatomy experience was what led to improved outcomes for Kristin and Wesley on their exams? There are no scientific studies; reports that such an exercise boosts learning and increases confidence would only be anecdotal. But after participating in the art club, Wesley and Kristin each passed the individual practical part of their exam in gross anatomy with 14 of 15 answers correct.
Posted on: Friday, August 24, 2018