VCOM View Magazine Vol. 12 | No. 1

A Flourishing Approach

The new team began by developing a departmental mission statement and thinking about their work environment, explained Discipline Chair William Pearson, PhD, an educator that has served for more than 35 years. He leads the new team, made up of faculty members Melinda Carter, MD, PhD; Daniel Cawley, DC, MSHS, MS; Lab Director Whitney Karriger, PhD; and Mary Piscura, PhD. Kristie Floyd serves as department assistant and assistant lab director. Each member of the team brings different skills and expertise. Carter is an embryology and histology instructor, as well as a bone specialist. As a medical doctor, she has a unique perspective of the clinical side. She also works as a consultant for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, performing casework at the ADFS medical examiner’s office in Montgomery, Alabama. As a chiropractor, Cawley shares that same clinical experience and is a musculoskeletal expert. Pearson studies head and neck structures and enjoys teaching neuroanatomy. Karriger serves as the lab director, ensuring the lab is equipped and ready to go. Piscura is new to education, but she is already a favorite with the students, while seasoned VCOM veteran Kristie Floyd assists with the lab and serves as a central hub for the team. VCOM’s anatomy curriculum includes directed lectures and cadaver dissections in bright, well-equipped, modern anatomy labs. In each block, the anatomy course integrates clinically relevant diagnostic, radiologic and surgical procedures to

The overall concept we are working out is what a “flourishing approach” to physician formation would look like in anatomy,” said Pearson. “We are asking ourselves how we can contribute to the culture of a medical school that we would like to attend,” Pearson added. After a recent exam, the anatomy team took the time to acknowledge the student group with lowest standard deviation, rather than highest score. “The assumption was they were all working as a team to pull each other up, so if one fails, they all fail,” said Pearson. “This exercise might not make sense here and now, but it makes sense in the operating room (OR) when they are working together as a team to help patients,” he added. As part of the new learning initiative, anatomy interns are assigned to each dissection table.The primary role of the intern is to take care of their first-year students. Additionally, interns help the group with writing multiple choice questions and completing prosections. As teams, they conduct speed and jeopardy reviews, imaging rounds, mock practicals, clinics and prosections. “We have 33 second-year students committed to helping the first-year students that are assisting with various types of reviews,” said Pearson. Instead of cross-section photos being utilized, as in the past, the team has started using industry-standard imaging. “We are using DICOM imagery to identify anatomy, which many students wouldn’t utilize ordinarily unless they were a resident,” said Pearson. DICOM, or Digital

reinforce the lab experience. Clinical presentations in the gross lab and during small group discussions emphasize the clinical relevance of anatomical structure and function. “Typically, in a medical school setting, we organize our people and systems for information delivery, and I think what is missed is an opportunity for organizing people and systems for developing future physicians,” said Pearson. “It sounds like a small shift, but I think it makes a big difference,” he added.

“Anatomy is a difficult course and can be very overwhelming, but the new faculty have made changes to make the course more fun and less stressful.” - Kristina Thoenes,VCOM-Auburn Class of 2025

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