Endocrine Abstracts

Background: 3D-modelling is a computer-generated simulation technique that allows the users to interact with a three-dimensional environment and provide an immersive experience to understand minuscule details which becomes especially important when understanding the anatomical relations of endocrinology organs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical lectures were shifted to online mode which diminished the opportunity of cadaveric-based teaching that is routinely done for first-year medical students. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of virtual 3D-modelling assisted teaching for first-year medical students and its comparability to online one-way teaching.

Methods: Various three-dimensional models of endocrine organs including thyroid, adrenal, pancreas, and pituitary were used and first-year medical students of Punjab, India were invited to our week-long online 3D-modelled training to teach anatomy of endocrinology organs. A pre-session and a post-session test was done using multiple-choice questions and short answer questions to assess the effectiveness of the session. Perspectives of medical students′ were ascertained using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire along with open-ended questions. The data was analyzed using SPSS statistics v26.0.

Results: Amongst 38 respondents, a significantly higher improvement (P<0.001) was seen in the post-session scores with the majority of students (84.2%) strongly preferring/preferring teaching via 3D models rather than online one-way teaching. Majority of the students had never learned previously (92.1%) via 3D-modelling and strongly agreed/agreed (73.7%) that 3D-modelling shall be included more routinely in teaching to teach complex anatomical relations.

Conclusion: The results indicate that 3D-modelling assisted teaching may be used as an adjunct/alternate to the current online one-way teaching. Besides using this technology to learn about the fundamental sciences like anatomy, it may also be used to get hands-on experience in performing endocrine surgeries in the future after further advancements.