Stefan Tigges, MD, had viewers drawing features of the larynx, using their phones to capture QR codes and making a sample quiz in Google forms during his RSNA 2020 presentation.
Tigges
During the session, Dr. Tigges replicated a 3-step technique he’s used over the last decade: asking medical students to join him in drawing part of the anatomy using abstraction, simplification and exaggeration.
“Anatomy textbooks have a ton of detail that’s important, but for a novice it’s overwhelming,” said Dr. Tigges, professor of radiology at the Emory University School of Medicine. “Students better understand the structure when they draw it.”
During his highly interactive session, Dr. Tigges encouraged viewers to stop the video and participate in the exercises.
He began by drawing an abstract of the larynx on a whiteboard, starting with important landmarks. As he created a simple line drawing of the cartilage skeleton, he exaggerated some features to demonstrate their function.
“I’ve personally found this the best way to learn,” said Dr. Tigges, who discovered visual learning as a medical student struggling to understand immunology. “Students say drawing is their favorite part of anatomy class.”
The popularity of the drawing method prompted Dr. Tigges to create an online library of comic sketch style tutorials on 16 features of human anatomy and evidence-based medicine topics such as causality and screening.
“Med students get into the weeds almost immediately with the amount of detail down to the molecular level,” he said. “This helps them figure out the big building blocks.”
Next, Dr. Tigges invited the audience to use their iPhone cameras to scan a QR (quick response) code, which led viewers to one of his own comic tutorials with easy, step-by-step instructions to make a QR code.
For the final exercise, Dr. Tigges walked viewers through the process of building an interactive, self-grading quiz using Google forms. He created a sample quiz on the larynx anatomy, demonstrating various options, including assigning point values and providing feedback for incorrect answers through external links to websites or YouTube videos. He also demonstrated how to drag and drop a cross-sectional CT image of a larynx.
“You can share a quiz via email or by creating a QR code for the page and sharing it with students,” he said. “After students have completed the quiz, Google automatically tabulates the responses and can even convert the data to a spreadsheet.”
Dr. Tigges said the interactive teaching tools not only aid in learning and retention, they also help hone the medical students’ ability to communicate with patients in the future.
“Knowing how to simply and effectively communicate with patients and help them understand their anatomy and what to expect from a medical procedure is an important skill,” he said.
Stefan Tigges, MD, demonstrates the interactive tools he uses to teach anatomy to radiology trainees.
For More Information
View the RSNA 2020 session, Using Drawings and Quizzes to Teach Anatomy and Radiology - RC202 at RSNA2020.RSNA.org.
