Addressing the failures of undergraduate anatomy education: Dissecting the issue and innovating a solution

Tahir Khaleeq,Karam Ahmad,Umar Hanif,Nadia Ahmad

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2020.12.024

Tahir Khaleeq, Karam Ahmad

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2020.12.024

Copy DOI

Abstract

BackgroundReduced time allocation, changes in teaching methods and Covid-19 have resulted in undergraduate anatomy teaching being marginalised.This has implications on patient safety, litigation, student satisfaction and surgical workforce planning. AimsThe aim of this study is to survey a cohort of recent English medical graduates to attain their perspective on anatomy training and to propose an innovative solution to solve existing problems in undergraduate anatomy training. MethodsAn online survey was sent out to 40 foundation doctors to offer insights into their undergraduate anatomy training. We asked participants to rate their perceived importance of anatomy, the importance offered to anatomy teaching at undergraduate level, preparation for clinical practice and future career plans. Results22 participants responded to the online survey. All trained across England with equal spread between Northern and Southern medical schools. All participants perceived anatomy to be either important or very important in the survey. 20/22 felt that their undergraduate anatomy teaching was given very low to average importance by their institutions. 8/22 were confident or very confident with their anatomy knowledge on beginning clinical practice. Of the 22, 5 planned surgical careers, 10 did not know or gave other responses and 7 wanted to do General Practice. 16/22 said anatomy training had or will impact their decision on choosing a speciality. ConclusionThe current literature and above survey highlight the deficiencies that current doctors are facing.We suggest implementation of a standardised anatomy curriculum and the development of an online anatomy course.

Highlights

Long established as a key pillar of the medical curriculum, anatomy has survived the test of time
We asked participants to inform us of future speciality training plans and if their experience of anatomy teaching at undergraduate level had impacted their decisions for this
Almost all of the participants felt that undergraduate anatomy teaching was not given significant importance, with 20/22 feeling it was given very low, low or average importance. 10/22 felt it was given very low importance

Summary

Introduction

Long established as a key pillar of the medical curriculum, anatomy has survived the test of time. The reduced focus on anatomy has directly impacted doctors in all settings and results in surgically minded students not getting core exposure to this essential part of the curriculum Reasonings for this decline stem from several factors and over the past 30 years, the decline in teaching anatomy has been well docu mented across the undergraduate medical world [4,5,6,7,8]. The reduced focus on anatomy and lack of accountability, has led to the creation of a ‘tick box’ culture This is evidenced by the fact that the average time spent studying anatomy in medical school is 149 hours over a five- or six-year course [3]. We suggest implementation of a standardised anatomy curriculum and the development of an online anatomy course

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion