Abstract

THE TWO-FOLD EFFECT OF LEARNING AMONG PHYSIOTHERAPY STUDENTS – THE SPATIAL SKILLS AND ANATOMY KNOWLEDGE

*K. Madhumathi MPT (Paediatric Neurology), (PhD) and Dr. P. Senthil Selvam MPT (Ortho), PhD

ABSTRACT

At present there is only scarce information related to spatial ability and anatomy knowledge among the medical students in specific with physiotherapy students. Anatomy and physiology are considered be the base for the medical and para-medical students. This forms the base for the later physical examination for any orthopaedic examination which the students will face in the following semester subjects. Functional anatomy involves mental transformation of anatomical structures. The medical students possess the greater spatial knowledge when compared to the other science students. Anatomy by itself is a spatial subject, where the students learn the body parts in relation to the other structures and the students must mentally rotate and visualize the parts of the structures in three - dimensional aspect. The spatial ability will be different for every individual and the students with low spatial ability tend to make more errors. Many studies suggest that early intervention in the spatial training will boost the entry level medical student’s performance, this statement is proved by Guillot that there is positive correlation between spatial ability and anatomy knowledge. The overall aim of this study is to find out the correlation between the spatial ability and anatomy knowledge among the physiotherapy students at the end of their first year University examination. Seventy – Eight students who are doing physiotherapy under-graduation course within the age group 18-19, both genders were selected for the study. The Vandenberg and Kuse mental rotation task were the standard measure to test the spatial ability and University anatomy examination marks was taken to represent the anatomy knowledge. The Pearson Correlation showed a positive relation between the spatial ability and anatomy knowledge among the physiotherapy students.

Keywords: Anatomy Knowledge; Mental rotation; Physiotherapy students; Spatial ability.