Can online education replace face-to-face education in anatomy education? Systematic review

Recently, alternative teaching methods have been tried to improve the quality of anatomy education. This study aimed to examine the effects of online distance education in anatomy courses on students’ motivation and academic achievements. The systematic review included studies published in Google Scholar, Pubmed, and Springer databases with the keywords “gross anatomy education and online learning” and “online learning in anatomy” between 2021 and 2024. After removing duplicates and title and abstract review, 22 articles were included in the systematic review after further review. When we looked at the year distribution of the articles, we saw that most of them were studied in 2021 (11), and most (20) were studied during the pandemic period. In terms of methodology, we found that synchronous education was provided in 19 of them, and evaluation exams, questionnaires, and scale techniques were used. Although the studies covered almost all health sciences, 17 were conducted with medical faculty students. When we looked at the number of samples, we saw that studies were conducted with a minimum of 51 students and a maximum of 420 students. Blended education was used in 8 studies, and extra course materials were used in 5. We found that well-designed online education enriched with learning materials contributed significantly to theoretical anatomy education. Although this educational technique supports theoretical education, we concluded from the analyzed articles that laboratory education should be face-to-face. The most critical feedback from the students was that the education should be blended rather than online.