Teaching clinical skills through Minds Eye
I am an instructor in the field of dental assisting. I am a very visual learner and must be able to see it to do it. In clinical instruction I create the visual as well the written and verbal instruction. I am interested in learning from others that instruct in the clinical realm as well.
I instruct in the Medical Assisting program. I find that in clinical classes it is easier to meet the four learning styles; for example:
Auditory: lecture or listening to CDs we have of heart or lung sounds.
Written: read the chapter material before class, then define (by handwriting) all key terms of the chapter.
Visual: use of power point and watching the instructor do a procedure with the equipment first.
Kinesthetic: completing the hands on skill by the student.
Additionally the use of "living person" or 3-D visualization of the human anatomy for use in med term, A&P, as well as reinforcement in clinical class is also used.
I teach ultrasound and the foundation of good scanning techniques is to be able to visualize the 2-dimensional image in 3-dimensions.
The scan image will show anatomy in only 2 dimensions but the anatomy has to be "seen in the mind's eye" in 3 dimension (as it is present in a living person).
Of course all the students have to learn the anatomy (and pathology) by a combination of learning styles.
