What anatomy shall we teach medical and dental students in a primary health care curriculum?

Abstract

The opinions of 142 doctors on the relevance of anatomy to the diagnosis and management of common clinical problems in their current medical and dental practice were analysed. This was in a bid to determine the relevant anatomy course content for the new primary health care oriented medical and dental curriculum of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. The respondents gave high scores to the relevance of anatomy knowledge to the management of acute abdomen (mean = 3.5), dislocated shoulder (3.3), Colles' fracture (3.2), palmar space abscess (3.2), obstructed labour (3.2), carcinoma of the breast (3.2), ectopic pregnancy (3.1), flail chest (3.1) and upper respiratory obstruction (3.0). They gave minimal scores to helminthiasis (mean = 1.5) common cold and anaemia (1.6), sickle cell disease (1.7), gastroenteritis (1.8), dental abscess (2.0), hypertension (2.2) and asthma (2.2). A basis for selecting relevant anatomy course content is deduced for an undergraduate curriculum in which the responsibilities and competence of the graduates is known. A nationwide extension of the study, especially amongst general practitioners and first-line doctors in rural areas, would be useful for identification of health problems that require little or no knowledge of anatomy and which can be safely managed by lower cadres of health personnel, traditional practitioners and members of the lay community.