Morphology: Bodies, Genes, Journals

Abstract

This issue of the Croatian Medical Journal (CMJ) is devoted to the study of morphology, in honor of late Prof. Jelena Krmpotic Nemanic, one of the last classical anatomists in Europe (1). The articles published here address morphology in a general sense, from the morphology of the bodies, which was the core of medical science in the past, to the morphology of genes, which represents the future of science. Although research in gross anatomy still makes significant contribution to medicine and improvement of health care (2-5), anatomy has moved from the scientific empire of the past centuries to a marginal and unattractive scientific discipline and a curriculum course with decreasing number of class hours (6). The decline of anatomy as a scientific discipline and a constant reduction of the anatomy course in a growing medical curriculum is in sharp contrast with the development of imaging technology and surgical procedures which require very detailed knowledge of gross morphology of the human body (6). With such a misbalance, it is not easy to teach anatomy to first-year medical students, especially as there is little evidence on best teaching methodologies (7). Four articles in this CMJ issue address education in anatomy: the relation of the structure of anatomy course to the body of anatomical terminology and textbooks (Grkovic et al, page 49), use of daily quizzes in anatomy course to monitor students’ knowledge and predict exam success (Poljicanin et al, page 55), students’ academic success related to the delivery of anatomy as a traditional, spread-out course or a block course (Salopek et al, page 61), and impact of team-based learning on educational outcomes of the first year medical students (Wiener et al, page 69). We hope that these articles will contribute to the effective anatomy teaching in a modern curriculum but also serve as a reminder for the medical profession to appreciate the knowledge of anatomy in modern medical practice.