Human Anatomy Self-Assessment Review Questions

Many students are familiar with formative and summative tests structured in the multiple choice format. Most high stakes exams utilize this format and not surprisingly, numerous self-assessment resources are available to help students prepare for these types of examinations.

The self-assessment questions presented here are intended to help students in a different setting, a setting such as a ward, the clinic or the operating room where questions from teachers and preceptors are not likely to be presented as recognition exercises, that is, in the multiple-choice format, but rather as recall tasks. When information is obtained from patients in a teaching setting, it is not typical for a teacher to pose a question by asking “Which of the following five conditions does the patient have?” More likely the student will be asked to supply answer or explanation to an open-ended inquiry, such as, “What arteries do you think we will have to ligate in order to remove this inflamed appendix safely?” In this situation, the student will have to recall information or facts from previous experience or learning. Educators commonly describe this behavior as demonstrating knowledge by recall rather than recognition.

The anatomy questions included here are formatted in the short answer or fill in the blank style that requires the retrieval rather than the recognition of information; a format more closely aligned with that needed for everyday clinical practice. Each chapter includes a series of questions related to a particular area of anatomy. Answers to those questions are included at the end of the book. It is our belief that this alternate approach to self-assessment in basic human anatomy will be helpful to students in preparing for clinical-based learning activities as well as for other types of knowledge assessment and evaluation

Authors: Michael F. Nolan & John P. McNamara, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Year: 2022