What anatomy is clinically useful and when should we be teaching it?

Abstract

Anatomy teaching, once thought of as being the cornerstone of medical education, has undergone much change in the recent years. There is now growing concern for falling standards in medical graduates' anatomical knowledge, coupled with a reduction in teaching time and appropriately qualified teaching staff. With limited contact hours available to teach this important discipline, it is essential to consider what anatomy is taught within the medical curriculum to ensure it is fit for clinical practice. The views of medical students, junior doctors, and consultants were obtained from the University of Nottingham and the Trent Deanery in Nottingham, United Kingdom, to establish what core anatomical knowledge they feel medical students should study and assimilate during preclinical training. All participants felt strongly that medical students should be adept at interpreting modern diagnostic images before entering their clinical placement or specialty. Respondents proposed more teaching emphasis should be placed on specific anatomical areas (including lymphatic drainage and dermatome innervation) and illustrated other areas where less detailed teaching was appropriate. Recommendations from our study highlight a need for greater clinical emphasis in anatomy teaching during preclinical years. To successfully achieve this, it is essential that clinicians become integrally involved in the design and delivery of future medical undergraduate anatomy courses. Anat Sci Educ 9: 468-475. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Computer Assisted Learning: Assessment of the Veterinary Virtual Anatomy Education Software IVALA™

“…Traditional anatomy education techniques including lectures, and anatomical dissection have recently encountered significant challenges and criticism [6,7]. Unequivocally, the laboratory dissection experience is highly demanding of curricular resources as purchasing, utilizing, and disposing of cadavers requires a major time commitment as well as poses a significant financial burden [8,9].…”

“…Unequivocally, the laboratory dissection experience is highly demanding of curricular resources as purchasing, utilizing, and disposing of cadavers requires a major time commitment as well as poses a significant financial burden [8,9]. Compounding this problem is the fact that many anatomy course resources are being reduced by budget cuts [10] and less time is being allocated to anatomy teaching [7,11]. Furthermore, external influences such as media and public relations have also increased apprehension about cadaveric usage [12], resulting in a priority of reduction, replacement, and refinement of animal use in education [13].…”

Can CanMEDS competencies be developed in medical school anatomy laboratories? A literature review

“…A foundation of anatomical knowledge is required for the development of the Medical Expert Role in any physician 4 . The depth required depends on one’s specialty, with surgery or radiology relying more on anatomical knowledge than other fields such as psychiatry or public health 7 . Nonetheless, in addition to building clinically relevant knowledge of human structure, anatomy education in medical school may offer opportunities for the development of competencies related to a variety of CanMEDS Roles relevant across specialties.…”

Venezuelan surgeons view concerning teaching human anatomical dissection

“…Medical students have diverse approaches in dealing with human anatomical dissection and so they experience different learning experiences resulting in differences in form and the amount of their grasp of human anatomy. As this probably applies to all learning processes, it should be no surprise that a combination of methods for learning human anatomy gives the best results [39404142434445]. This survey shows that this group of Venezuelan surgeons consider human anatomical dissection-based teaching to be the most beneficial method of teaching anatomy and their perceptions are that it should be given corresponding prominence in medical education.…”

“…Cadaver shortage is the problem facing medical schools all over the world [324142]. Reduced hours of study and access to cadaver dissection-based teaching in medical education has led to many medical doctors especially surgeons reporting insufficient human anatomical knowledge of junior medical doctors [43], a fact that is causing a growing concern in this regard [232744]. This tendency poses a significant risk overall but perhaps most of all in surgery [15].…”