Improving Medical School
Anatomy Labs with
Interactive 3D Anatomy
See how Boston University’s School of Medicine adapted and integrated BioDigital’s 3D Anatomy into their lab materials.
Background:
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine (CAMED) has been a leader in medical education and the first to allow women since its founding in 1848. To enhance their anatomy education and meet the needs of modern healthcare training, CAMED partnered with BioDigital to deploy an innovative interactive 3D human body platform.
The Challenge:
CAMED faced the challenge of making anatomy learning more interactive and accessible. Traditional methods were often time-consuming and less engaging for students. The need for a more effective, adaptable, and innovative solution was clear, especially one that could be easily integrated into CAMED’s existing online courses and Learning Management System (LMS).
Solution:
BioDigital collaborated with CAMED’s Jonathan Wisco, Associate Professor, Anatomy & Neurobiology, to rapidly configure 90 custom anatomy models using Human Studio, BioDigital’s tool for authoring immersive health content. These interactive 3D models are specific to the 1st year medical student curriculum and are now available in the BioDigital library for all customers.
Integration with Google Docs and Blackboard
BioDigital's models are embedded within Google Docs, providing easy access to students during their anatomy labs. This allows students to preview, review, and interact with 3D models before and during their lab sessions using iPads.
CAMED is also migrating these links to their self-learning guides on Blackboard, enhancing accessibility and enabling students to use these resources in both pre-lab preparations and during lab activities.
Enhanced Learning Experience:
BioDigital models are used extensively during anatomy labs. Students can visualize 3D structures, enabling a deeper understanding of complex spatial relationships before examining donors.
Adding labels to the models has been particularly beneficial, providing detailed information and aiding in the identification of various anatomical structures.
Formative Assessments:
CAMED is planning to integrate BioDigital models into formative quizzes on Blackboard. Although BioDigital offers standalone quizzing, CAMED will use Blackboard for creating and tracking assessments. BioDigital’s API will communicate quiz results with Blackboard, allowing for a seamless user experience where students can manipulate 3D images directly within Blackboard quiz questions.
Your 3D model is fantastic. It’s super specific to what our students need to do. It’s high yield fast. The way you can navigate through the anatomy is perfect, it works really well for us. Other models weren’t time efficient.
— Dr. John Wisco
following the first semester using BioDigital
Impact:
The implementation of BioDigital’s platform has impacted CAMED’s anatomy curriculum by:
Improving Accessibility and Efficiency
The web-based nature of BioDigital's platform ensures that students can access the models anytime and from anywhere, making learning more flexible and efficient.
Enabling Better Understanding
The interactive 3D models help students comprehend and retain information about complex anatomical structures more intuitively compared to traditional methods.
Supporting Diverse Learning Preferences
CAMED provides its students with a number of innovative and complementary resources to meet different learning needs, with BioDigital being the preferred choice for reference within anatomy courses and quick, in-lab reference.
Conclusion:
BioDigital’s interactive 3D human body platform has proven to be a very valuable asset for the Boston University School of Medicine. CAMED adapted, fully integrated, and launched BioDigital within 90 days, making learning anatomy more engaging, accessible, and efficient for students.
Boston University has a long standing tradition of best in class medical education and are now embracing innovation to help train our future doctors.
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