Turkish undergraduate veterinary students’ attitudes to use of animals and other teaching alternatives for learning anatomy

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the views of first-year veterinary students in Turkey from six veterinary faculties on their anatomy courses and to evaluate their perceptions of the uses of animals and other teaching alternatives from an ethical perspective. The study sample included a total of 293 veterinary students studying in the provinces of Ankara, Burdur, Diyarbakır, Kars, Konya, and Tekirdag. The 38-item instrument tool developed by the researchers consisted of three sections and was administered to volunteer student participants. All the data were statistically analyzed, and normal distribution of the scores obtained in the attitude scales was determined using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov Z test (KSZ). The 20 items in the Anatomy Scale had an arithmetic mean of 3.48 and thus indicated an average rating of agree. The most challenging topic was found by 40.9% to be “the nervous system.” The most useful material in facilitating the learning process was rated by 24.1% to be “the anatomy book.” The 11 items in the Cadaver Scale had an arithmetic mean of 3.77, indicating an average rating of agree. The highest arithmetic mean score was for the item “Using cadavers is a must for the anatomy course” with a mean of 4.66, indicating their strong agreement with this view. The veterinary students’ perspective emphasized that the combination of cadavers and the anatomy book contributed to their learning of anatomy.