New methods for teaching anatomy and histology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Berlin - exchange of experiences

摘要

Traditionally, training in human and veterinary medicine has been based on lectures and practical trainings. Since different learning styles of students exist, i.e. visual, aural, read/write and kinesthetic, curricula rich in diverse methods are fundamental. When starting a career many students are experts in computer communication but the inability to communicate on a personal level, speechlessness, passiveness and lack of self-confidence of young veterinarians are often criticized by practitioners. As one of the best ways to retain knowledge in memory is a strategy implying free speech and independent performance within a placid atmosphere that allows exercising learning contents, we introduced peer-assisted learning (PAL) to the courses of anatomy and histology to support the classical lectures and practical trainings and to give the students the possibility to improve their free speech and self confidence. We also implemented e-learning to provide tools helpful for preparing to histology and dissection lab trainings, to offer a useful platform to repeat the learned material and to allow learning veterinary morphology outside the dissection theatre. The novel methods appeared to be successful and enjoyable alternatives for the veterinary students and in face of reduced contact hours these forms of teaching and learning compensated in part the lost teaching time. We observed improvement of rhetoric and presentation skills together with increased students' self-confidence. The approaches should therefore find their constant place in the veterinary medicine curricula.