22Apr 2017

TEACHING HUMAN ANATOMY IN THE MEDICAL CURRICULUM: A TREND REVIEW.

  • Department of Anatomy, College of Allied Health Sciences, Gulf Medical University Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • References
  • Cite This Article as
  • Corresponding Author

Teaching human anatomy has been reduced in the medical curricula globally, resulting in a decreased knowledge of human anatomy in practicing doctors. The decreased teaching of anatomy to medical student has been reported in many journals. It has been found that cadaveric dissection to be most suitable method in learning anatomy, which has been reduced due to various factors. Dissection should remain as the principle teaching modality for anatomy teaching in modern medical schools. There are reports suggesting that, in some centers, studying anatomy using cadaver-dissection is no longer demanding and this trend is inclined to underestimate the crucial purpose of anatomy in the medical field. Modern teaching methodology and the problem based learning (PBL) does have a good outcome in understanding the clinical part of a disease. The depth of basic medical sciences knowledge has been found to be inadequate among the students. It is still debatable, to what extent the basic medical sciences knowledge, especially anatomy is needed for becoming a good doctor. This has necessitated a serious evaluation of the method of human anatomy teaching in medical schools around the world.


  1. Habbal O. The state of human anatomy teaching in the medical schools of Gulf Cooperation Council Countries. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2009; 9(1): 24-31.
  2. Burgess A, McGregor D, Mellis C. Medical students as peer tutors: a systematic review. BMC Medical Education. 2014; 14:115. doi:10.1186/1472-6920-14-115.
  3. Turney BW. Anatomy in a modern medical curriculum. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2007; 89:104-107.
  4. Ahern G. Clinician involvement in the teaching of anatomy to medical students. Australas Med J. 2015; 8(7): 247-248.
  5. John ES.? Reflections on Dissection: Leave No Student Behind. The American Surgeon 2008; 74(1) : 1-3.
  6. Older J. Anatomy: a must for teaching the next generation. 2004; 2(2):79-90.
  7. Grković G ?Guić MM,? Ko?ta V, Poljičanin A,?Čarić A, and?Vilović K. Designing Anatomy Program? in Modern Medical Curriculum: Matter of Balance. Croat Med J. 2009; 50 (1): 49-54.
  8. Chari S, Gupta M, Gade S. The Early Clinical Exposure Experience Motivates First Year MBBS Students: A Study. Int J Edu Sci. 2015; 8(2): 403-405.
  9. Shaffer K. Teaching Anatomy in the Digital World. N Engl J Med 2004; 351(13): 1279-81.
  10. Swamy M, Venkatachalam S, McLachlan J. A Delphi consensus study to identify current clinically most valuable orthopaedic anatomy components for teaching medical students. BMC Med Educ. 2014; 14: 230.
  11. Papa V, Vaccarezza M. Review Article; Teaching Anatomy in the XXI Century: New Aspects and Pitfalls. The Scientific World Journal. 2013; Volume 2013, Article ID 310348, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/310348.
  12. Raja S, Sultana B. Potential Health Hazards for Students Exposed to Formaldehyde in the Gross Anatomy Laboratory. J Environ Sci Health. 2012; 74(6):36-38.
  13. Al-Shaqsi S, Stringer MD. Do senior medical students know enough clinical anatomy? N Z Med J. 2011; 124 (1337): 113-116.
  14. Azer SA, Eizenberg N. Do we need dissection in an integrated problem-based learning medical course? Perceptions of first- and second-year students. Surg Radiol Anat. 2007; 29:173-180.
  15. Manyama M, Stafford R, Mazyala E, Lukanima A, Magele N, Kidenya BR, Kimwaga E, Msuya S, Kauki J. Improving gross anatomy learning using reciprocal peer teaching. BMC Medical Education. (2016) 16:95. DOI 10.1186/s12909-016-0617-1.
  16. Hasse P, The challenges of teaching an old subject in a new world: A personal perspective. Clinical and Investigative Medicine 2000; 23 (1): 81-83.
  17. Craig SJ, Tait N, Boers D, McAndrew DJ. Review of anatomy education in Australian and New Zealand medical schools. ANZ Journal of Surgery 2010; 80 (4): 212-216.
  18. Abu-Hijleh MF, Chakravarty M, Al-Shboul Kassab QS, Hamdy S. Integrating applied anatomy in surgical clerkship in a problem-based learning curriculum. Surg Radiol Anat. 2005; 27:152-157.
  19. Rajani S, Tubbs S, Gupta R. Gareth GD. Is the decline of human anatomy hazardous to medical education / profession?-A review. Surg Radiol Anat. 2015; 37(10) :1257-1265.

[Satheesha Nambiar Periya (2017); TEACHING HUMAN ANATOMY IN THE MEDICAL CURRICULUM: A TREND REVIEW. Int. J. of Adv. Res. 5 (Apr). 445-448] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com


Satheesha Nambiar Periya
Department of Anatomy, College of Allied Health Sciences, Gulf Medical University Ajman, United Arab Emirates

DOI:


Article DOI: 10.21474/IJAR01/3830      
DOI URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/3830