Over the past several years, undergraduate medical students were subject to variable learning environments amidst pandemic-related restrictions, challenging long-established experiential learning approaches. Concurrently, health science institutions have been revisiting the value (or lack thereof) of human body dissection. This study examined student experience using a supplemental gross anatomy eModule before, during, and after limitation of in-person experiential gross anatomy curriculum and which eModule attributes students find valuable.

First-year medical students received a supplemental Distal Upper Limb anatomy eModule from 2019 to 2021 (n = 394). eModule users received a Post-eModule/Pre-Exam survey from 2019 to 2021, and a Post-eModule/Post-Exam survey in 2021. Both surveys included Likert-type and free-response questions.

In Post-eModule/Pre-Exam surveys (2019, 2020, 2021, n = 95), students in the 2021 cohort responded most positively to the eModule’s convenience, but most negatively when comparing the eModule to in-person dissection. In Post-eModule/Post-Exam surveys (2021, n = 18), > 75% of students indicated the eModule adequately prepared them to answer eModule-related exam questions. In free-response submissions, users highlighted the use of photos of anatomic dissections as the most beneficial feature. Deficiencies included the absence of figure legends and limited angles/views of specimens.

This study may serve to guide the features included in future digital gross anatomy resources and aid in illustrating student perception of limited in-person experiential learning opportunities.