Objectives: To verify if building a low-cost clay pelvic model would increase OB/GYN residents’ confidence and knowledge scores in pelvic anatomy, utilizing a self-constructing clay pelvic model, previously developed by the presenting author.
Methods: During the routine resident education session at an academic medical center in December 2024, each resident constructed a clay pelvic model on a bony pelvis (See Figure 1), guided by 1 board-certified urogynecologist, along with a traditional didactic PowerPoint presentation on pelvic anatomy. Institutional Board approval was obtained (i24-01622) and participation was voluntary. Demographics were obtained, followed by pre/post knowledge test, pre/post confidence level and satisfaction survey. Descriptive analysis performed for demographics and satisfaction survey. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare pre-simulation scores to post-simulation scores. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All analyses were performed using R (R Core Team) version 4.4.0.
Results: Total 9 residents (Post-Graduate-Year (PGY)-1, n=3; PGY-2, n=4; PGY-3, n=2) participated and completed the pre/posttest and confidence questions before and after the simulation, in addition to the satisfaction survey. Table 1 describes basic demographics. The median score from the 10 multiple-choice knowledge questions on the pretest was 30% [IQR 20, 50], while that of the post-test was 60% [IQR 50, 70] (p=0.014): The majority of residents scored higher on the posttest, improving posttest scores to 10% (n=2), 20% (n=1), 30 % (n=1), 40% (n=3), and 60% (n=1);1 resident scored the same. Overall, 88.8% of residents (8/9) improved their knowledge scores up to 60% after the simulation session. Self-assessed confidence level scores improved from median 2.63 to median 3.75 (1-lowest, 5-highest). 100% of residents responded with 5 (1-lowest, 5-highest) to the satisfaction statements.
Conclusions: A low budget clay pelvic model is easy to build and did increase residents’ confidence and knowledge scores in pelvic anatomy, along with high satisfaction. This low-cost clay pelvic model can serve as an alternative method to teach pelvic anatomy to the OB/GYN residents. Self-building clay pelvis model would also provide an excellent way of reviewing the major landmarks of pelvic anatomy.
