Merit based re-distribution of students in anatomy dissection classes: method re-visited

We at Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal Campus) have adopted merit based re arrangement of dissection groups of first year medical students during the second term of their anatomy course. This rearrangement had shown improvement in their anatomy scores in the subsequent examinations of the second term. The above distribution caused uneasiness, especially to the students who scored least marks in the first term. Some among them complained of being depressed after the re-distribution. The purpose of our intervention was to reduce the stress and anxiety, but achieve the same or better improvement in the exam scores. The students were redistributed depending on the aggregate of marks of the two exams in the first term. However the groups were not assigned their meritorious ranks. Hence, the students were not told to which meritorious group they belonged to whereas the teachers were aware of the same. This helped the teachers to teach accordingly to the groups. To find out their improvement in the exams, a comparison of their marks in the exams conducted just before and after the intervention was made. The students who scored less were not depressed as their scores were unrevealed to them and to their peers. 66% students felt this method of redistribution is good and others felt it was satisfactory. Student redistribution with unrevealed ranking almost erased the uneasiness that was there earlier. Most of them were happy and felt that the course was delivered to them at their intellectual level.