SELECTIVE USE OF E-LEARNING FOR IMPROVING LEARNING OUTCOMES OF HUMAN ANATOMY

Background:
The College of Medicine and Medical Sciences (CMMS) of the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) in Bahrain has adopted and implemented problem-based learning (PBL) program since 1982. This program is student-centered, community-oriented and integrates basic medical science with clinical disciplines of body systems. Self-learning is facilitated by small group interactive discussions, electronic and non-electronic resource methods, tutor guidance and evaluation. E-learning is the use of internet technologies to enhance knowledge and performance. E-learning offers learners control over content, pace of time and allow them to tailor their experiences to meet their personal learning objectives.

Objectives:
1. To select e-learning resources for anatomical subjects complementary to the existing traditional instructional methods in CMMS-AGU.
2. Recommend a specific web-site freely available and usable by undergraduate medical students for each problem or unit as an anatomy resource.

Methods:
1. Review all human anatomy e-learning resources in the internet which are reliable, reusable and free to be downloaded by 7 anatomists who are the anatomy resource persons for each problem or unit in the curriculum.
2. Selection criteria of an e-learning resource included relevance to the problem, integration of anatomical facts, interactive environment, self-assessment for the learner and usage of multimedia.
3. Each anatomy staff selects an anatomical subject (embryology, histology, gross anatomy, Neuroanatomy) to provide his review and recommendation in a meeting for approval or rejection by the department.

Results:
1. There are ubiquitous and heterogeneous e-learning resources of human anatomy free to be downloaded.
2. Selection of specific websites of anatomical subjects to be incorporated as e-resources in various problems/units of our curriculum is a vigorous task requiring active involvement in construction, implementation and assessment for each problem in PBL.
3. The final selection list of anatomy e-resources included one recommended website for each of gross anatomy, surface anatomy and neuroanatomy; two websites for each of embryology and imaging and four websites for general anatomy.

This paper reflects our experience and recommendations of some free-download sites from the internet to be used as anatomical e-resources by our students. The usability and effectiveness of these e-resources for learning outcomes awaits future evaluation.