Agentic education · Learning science

Actionable companion · Retention & transfer

Learning with agency: Musculoskeletal anatomy education perspectives

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide, separate from the original research. Proposed actions are not claims or recommendations attributed to the source authors. No independent peer review of this guide is asserted.

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Evidence and context

Title and abstract screening; stage labels describe reported settings, not verified numerical ages. Design labels require full-text appraisal. Reported stage(s): Higher education, Adult & professional learning. Verify the participant population and task before transferring the findings.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the linked source license:

Abstract Musculoskeletal (MSK) anatomy education is a critical foundation for developing competency among radiologists, physiatrists, rheumatologists, and orthopedic surgeons. However, current undergraduate medical curricula often exhibit significant deficiencies in instructional hours, integration of diverse teaching modalities, and clinical relevance. This narrative review synthesizes recent evidence (March 2021–March 2026) identified through a targeted search of Medline, Embase, and Scopus, with an emphasis on consensus guidelines, validation studies, and clinically focused publications related to MSK anatomy, imaging modalities (ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography), and curriculum design for medical students in relevant specialties. Multimodal interventions, including cadaveric dissection, radiological anatomy, case-based rheumatologic and rehabilitation modules, and technology-enhanced platforms such as 3D virtual models and AI-driven adaptive learning, have been associated with improvements in knowledge retention, spatial reasoning, diagnostic accuracy, and procedural confidence compared with didactic instruction alone. Persistent knowledge gaps undermine interpretive proficiency in MSK imaging, including the identification of synovitis and enthesopathy, and are linked to reduced clinical preparedness. Objective assessments reveal suboptimal performance despite completion of conventional preclinical training. Cadaveric dissection fosters practical skills and ethical professionalism, while early integration of imaging connects theoretical morphology with three-dimensional relational understanding and pathological correlations in MSK and rheumatic diseases. Implementation frameworks recommend phased rollouts that incorporate stakeholder needs assessments, faculty development through train-the-trainer models, resource reallocation for point-of-care ultrasound and virtual reality, and strategies to address barriers, such as grants for low-resource settings and modularization to reduce curricular congestion. These evidence-based approaches support scalable reforms that produce MSK-literate clinicians prepared for precision diagnostics and interventional practice. Keywords: Musculoskeletal system, Anatomy, Education, Curriculum

What kind of evidence is this?

Intelligent tutoring & adaptive learning · Design requires full-text appraisal

Stage: Higher education; Adult & professional learning. Screening labels describe reported context and study-design language. They are not a risk-of-bias rating or proof of effectiveness for an age band.

Limitations and uncertainty · source passage

With rapid advances in radiology, we need to adapt, and one option is to include radiological anatomy in the medical student curriculum, ideally from the first year. The most up-to-date are published articles in peer-reviewed journals. Limitations to non-open-access journals, especially in low- and middle-income countries, widen the gap in sharpening skills. The European Society of Radiology’s (ESR) initiative to develop the ESR e-Book as an open-access digital teaching resource, including an MSK chapter that aligns with the undergraduate European Training Curriculum for Radiology, seems especially useful [15].

Design the system before the pilot

Document the learner model, mastery rule, hint sequence and adaptation signal. Compare adaptive routing with the same content in a non-adaptive sequence. Check whether early errors lead to persistent low-expectation pathways.

  • Include a delayed assessment and an unfamiliar transfer problem without AI. Immediate supported performance cannot establish durable learning.
  • Use common rubrics, blind scoring where feasible and a fresh unaided reasoning task. Document permissible assistance and avoid treating AI-detector scores as proof of misconduct.

A 90-day district pilot

  1. Days 1–15 · Appraise. Have the curriculum lead and a teacher read the methods and limitations. Record the study design, sample, comparator, outcomes and evidence gaps. Define a local question that the study can help inform.
  2. Days 16–30 · Design. Choose one disciplinary task. Require a first attempt, a documented AI consultation, a critique of the output and an independent explanation. Align the comparison group and scoring rubric with the same objective. Name an accountable owner and set the baseline, success threshold and budget before implementation.
  3. Days 31–60 · Test. Start with a small voluntary cohort, preserve an accessible non-AI route and require teacher review. Use synthetic or de-identified examples; approve data handling and tool terms through district processes.
  4. Days 61–90 · Decide. Blind-score reasoning and accuracy on a new task without AI. Distinguish model examination scores, student perceptions and actual learner gains; only the last directly tests educational benefit. Compare with baseline, document uncertainty and stop or revise if learning worsens, access is unequal or critical errors persist.

The board decision brief

Report the learning problem, evidence quality, participating population, total cost including review time, measured benefit, errors, access differences and remaining uncertainties. Make a dated recommendation to stop, revise or expand. A positive perception survey alone does not establish learning improvement.

Attribution and reuse

Uliana Pidvalna; Lesya Mateshuk-Vatseba; Baimakhan Tanabayev; Ahmet Usen. Musculoskeletal anatomy education perspectives. Rheumatology International (2026-06-04). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-026-06175-4

Companion prepared 2026-10-30. Original authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract is an attributed source extract; the implementation plan is new AI-assisted editorial material, offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license. This guide has not undergone independent peer review.