Each year during their annual meeting, the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) recognizes an educator for their creative and innovative use of technology to engage undergraduates in human anatomy and physiology. The Sam Drogo Technology in the Classroom Award honors the late Sam Drogo, a dedicated member of HAPS and passionate educator who advocated for the use of technology in the classroom.
At the 2025 HAPS Annual Meeting, this award was presented to Jenna Kuczek, a second year PhD student at The Ohio State University (OSU). Jenna’s PhD project focuses on the creation and implementation of a clinical anatomy course for undergraduate students.
Leveraging her personal experiences from two completed years of medical school, her goal is to expose students to clinical opportunities early on. She hopes this early exposure will not only give them a leg up when advancing on to graduate programs, but also help to guide their career choices. Read on to learn more about her work creating this first of its kind course!
Jenna Kuczek, 2nd Year PhD Student at The Ohio State University
From Student to Teacher
Following the completion of her Bachelor of Science degree at The Ohio State University, Jenna moved to Chicago to attend medical school at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. While this seemed like the logical next step for a bright individual with a strong science background, she quickly realized that her true passion lay elsewhere.
“I got into the first month or two during my third year, and I just realized that practicing medicine wasn't my passion or what got me out of bed everyday. But I really enjoyed teaching it,” she explains. “So I decided to leave. It was a hard decision to make with the time put in, but I knew I wanted to be happy with my career and do something I felt passionate about everyday.”
Jenna had previously worked as a teaching assistant at OSU for anatomy, an experience that she found extremely fulfilling. “I’d go home every day with euphoria, like ‘Mom I had SO much fun teaching!’. I just never thought of it as a career possibility.” When deciding on her next steps, she knew she had to prioritize that gratifying feeling.
Jenna made the decision to return to Ohio, where she completed her Masters in Anatomy. She is now pursuing her PhD in Anatomy, with her focus being on education research. For her PhD project, she decided to combine her personal experiences and passion for teaching to create a brand new, undergraduate clinical anatomy course at OSU.
“I created and implemented a new course at Ohio State called Clinical Anatomy. It’s for undergraduates. Right now, there is no specific class for that subject matter in America, to our knowledge. It’s usually a course that is taught in graduate programs, like medical or physical therapy. So I’ve created this undergraduate course for that subject, and we want to see if this class will help prepare students. I really wanted to introduce them to a lot of clinical experiences that they may only get if they are shadowing or whatnot. I want them to see more of the medicine before they really get into it. Based on my experience, I didn’t know until I was fully in it whether I liked it or not, so I want to help them figure that out early on.”
Early Exposure
Jenna’s clinical anatomy course aims to better integrate textbook knowledge and clinical experiences. She combines lecture and lab maneuvers to introduce students to a variety of skills and terms early on. From practicing suturing on fruits, to hosting guest speakers from a realm of medical careers (including ENT Specialists and Occupational Therapists), the course is designed to truly immerse undergraduate students in the field of medicine and help guide their future career decisions.
As part of her work on the course, Jenna has also integrated virtual reality labs and simulated surgery labs. These technologies are used to enhance visualization of anatomical structures and improve understanding of spatial relationships. Such concepts can often be difficult for students to understand, especially with limited time and exposure in the lab.
“We want to see if the VR plus the simulated surgeries give them a better 3D mental map of the human body. Going off my own experiences, back in the day, I thought I knew everything. But I was just memorizing a lot! I couldn't tell you that right under here is where this muscle would be or that right under that is a nerve.”
Integrating these technologies provides a fun, engaging way for students to begin building their 3D map of the body, and ultimately sets them up for success if they choose to continue on to graduate school.
Jenna Kuczek (right) with her award, alongside ADInstruments Customer Success Manager Ari Boulet (left)
So far, students have responded positively to the virtual reality and simulated surgery lab activities. Jenna will continue to investigate how this course impacts student performance and career choice by following up with her students in the future. She is grateful and excited for what the future of teaching holds.
“I don’t know how it all happened but I’m so glad it did. Now I really do wake up everyday and I’m so excited to come to work…I just never thought of it as a career possibility. I’m so happy I got back to this place and found this.”
HAPS 2025
As the winner of the Sam Drogo Award 2025, Jenna received $1500 to support her attendance at the HAPS Annual Meeting. In addition to accepting her award, she also presented a workshop titled Use of virtual reality and 3D anatomy visualization to prepare students for simulated surgery wet lab experiences. This workshop detailed the use of VR technology and simulated surgical procedures in the undergraduate clinical anatomy course.
ADInstruments would like to extend their congratulations once again to Jenna! We wish her success in her future endeavors.
Who was Sam Drogo?
Sam Drogo was a passionate A&P educator at Mohawk Valley Community College for more than 30 years. As a highly active member of HAPS, he helped to create the HAPS Comprehensive Competency Test and was always passionate about using technology when teaching.
ADInstruments is proud to help HAPS honor Sam's legacy and promote his love for innovative teaching with this award. To learn more about this award, visit the HAPS website here.
Sam Drogo
