ADAM Interactive Anatomy · The Anatomy Project

ADAM Software. Harcourt Brace, £1091.49. ISBN 1 572 45099 1. Rating: ★★

The Anatomy Project by Debra Hastings-Nield. Parthenon Publishing, each CD £79.90 (free demonstration CD). ISBN 185070 9106. Rating: ★★★

The teaching of anatomy is undergoing something of a revolution. Increasing numbers of medical schools are giving up traditional methods, such as dissection, in favour of student directed or problem based learning. Students are given access to computers as a major source of information, and are given multimedia packages when once they would have been given a cadaver and a scalpel. There is also a heavy demand for anatomical multimedia from postgraduates. This is fuelled partly by a shift in the surgical fellowship exams and a heavy reliance on distance learning, but also by a reduction in anatomy teaching in the undergraduate curriculum. The market for anatomical CD Roms is therefore booming.

ADAM Interactive Anatomy provides a “dissectable” man and woman and allows the user to move through a number of body “layers.” Over 20 000 anatomical structures can be revealed, all of which can be identified by a click of the mouse. This provides a very pleasing result, albeit an artistic representation of the body rather than the real thing. However, structures move through and between anatomical layers, and this can make them difficult to follow.

One can also switch into other modes. In “Atlas Mode,” pins are stuck into the structures, reminiscent of the old spotter exams. “3D Atlas” is limited, having only a few rotatable organs—such as heart, lungs, and skull. The “Slide Shows” are a useful feature for teachers, allowing the user to write text to guide students around the images.

The quality of the program and the considerable attention that has been paid to ease of use are commendable. However, it is essentially nothing more than a sophisticated atlas. It cannot teach anatomy, because anatomy is not just about learning the names of structures or knowing their position. It lacks textual information about the importance of structures or the context of their position in the body.

The Anatomy Project is entirely different. It is a series of 20 CDs covering both regional and systematic anatomy. They did not load easily; each, by default, was installed onto a separate folder on the hard disk and took 4 Mb of disk space. This caused duplication of files and took up more disk space than was necessary. Once I had overcome the initial difficulties, the program seemed to be well constructed and easy to use. The user is first presented with a menu allowing the selection of an appropriate level—nursing, medical, postgraduate, etc. Generally, I found the amount of detail excessive for all levels. For example, in the chapter on extrinsic muscles of the hand, there were 27 pages of text for postgraduates and 26 for medical students. I thought the level presented for nurses (16 pages) was sufficient for today's medical student.

The quality of the tutorials is exceptional, but users are presented with long video sequences containing detail that comes fast and furious. The information could probably be reduced to more easily digestible pieces, as in the “Summary” section. As it stands, the video tutorials would perplex and confuse most medical students. They would be better presented on video and, indeed, are available in that format.

Interactivity is provided in the “Atlas” section, which presents numbered structures whose names are revealed on the click of the mouse button. The “Quiz” section uses a “true or false?” format, and there is a useful review of information should the user get the wrong answer.

Overall, I was impressed by the quality of these products, but I do not think that either can replace more traditional methods of learning anatomy: a good textbook and atlas or a cadaver. I look forward to the new breed of multimedia packages that will bring closer appreciation of the relations between structure, function, and relevance to clinical practice.