The use of Reading Assignments and Learning Issues as an alternative to anatomy lectures in Team‐Based Learning curriculum.

In anatomy, we have cut all basic anatomy lectures but retained embryology and clinical correlations. To maintain the course content and effective teaching without lectures we developed focused reading assignments and learning issues and adopted TBL strategy that promotes active learning. 180 students were divided into teams of 8. Each team received a series of assignments on basic anatomy and clinical correlations to emphasize anatomical concepts. Teams discussed these assignments during TBL sessions. The authors circulated among the teams to clarify difficult issues and to ask probing questions to further insure student comprehension. The data on departmental and NBME exams showed that students in the TBL curriculum performed better than the students in the traditional curriculum. We attribute this to TBL, which improved students' preparedness by keeping up with the assignments and created peer pressure to contribute to team discussions. Inclusion of clinical reasoning exercises for team discussions, and incorporation of high quality problem solving items written in collaboration with clinicians in the departmental exams might have contributed to better NBME performance. We found that TBL is effective, efficient and appealing to both students and faculty. Funded in part by the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine and UMDNJ‐Master Educator's Guild.