Anatomical education has traditionally used cadaveric material to study the human body, with both wet prosections and plastinated (PP) material commonly utilized. However, the frequency of use of these different preparation modes in a tertiary institution has not been previously examined. An audit of PP use in the Department of Anatomy and…

Comics are powerful visual messages that convey immediate visceral meaning in ways that conventional texts often cannot. This article's authors created comic strips to teach anatomy more interestingly and effectively. Four-frame comic strips were conceptualized from a set of anatomy-related humorous stories gathered from the authors' collective…

After Phnom Penh was liberated from the Khmer Rouge in 1979, health science education in Cambodia had to be completely rebuilt. In this article, the authors report the results of a teaching collaboration between the University of Melbourne (Australia), the International University (Cambodia), and the University of Health Sciences (Cambodia). The…

A challenge for new residents and senior residents preparing for board examinations is refreshing their knowledge of basic science disciplines, such as human gross anatomy. The Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Utah School of Medicine has for many years held an annual Orthopedic Resident Anatomy Review Course during the summer months…

One of the strong trends in medical education today is the integration of the humanities into the basic medical curriculum. The anatomy program is an obvious choice for using the humanities to develop professionalism and ethical values. They can also be used to develop close observational skills. Many medical schools have developed formal art…

Medical education underwent standardization at the turn of the 20th century and remained fairly consistent until recently. Incorporation of a patient-centered or case-based curriculum is believed to reinforce basic science concepts. One negative aspect is a reduction in hours spent with cadaveric dissection in the gross anatomy laboratory. For…

Assessment of the personalities of medical students could enable medical educators to formulate strategies for the best development of academic and clinical competencies. In this article, we focus on the experience of students in the anatomy dissecting room. While there have been many attempts to evaluate the emotional responses of medical…

Body painting as a tool for teaching anatomy is becoming increasingly popular as it is fun and diffuses the formal academic context. Students claim bright color plays a significant role in retention of knowledge from painting sessions. Medical students (n = 117) were divided into two conditions: block color (CLR) and black outlines (BLK). Students…

An increasing number of instructors are seeking to provide students with online anatomy resources. Many researchers have attempted to identify associations between resource use and student learning but few studies discuss the importance of usability testing in resource design and modification. Usability testing provides information about ease of…

The interpretation of computed tomographs (CTs) and magnetic resonance images (MRIs) to diagnose clinical conditions requires basic knowledge of sectional anatomy. Sectional anatomy has traditionally been taught using sectioned cadavers, atlases, and/or computer software. The computer software commonly used for this subject is practical and…

Team-based learning (TBL) strategy is being adopted in medical education to implement interactive small group learning. We have modified classical TBL to fit our curricular needs and approach. Anatomy lectures were replaced with TBL that required preparation of assigned content specific discussion topics (in the text referred as "discussion…

The inherent spatial complexity of the human cerebral ventricular system, coupled with its deep position within the brain, poses a problem for conceptualizing its anatomy. Cadaveric dissection, while considered the gold standard of anatomical learning, may be inadequate for learning the anatomy of the cerebral ventricular system; even with…

Photography has a widespread usage in medicine and anatomy. In this review, authors focused on the usage of photography in gross and clinical anatomy. Photography in gross and clinical anatomy is not only essential for accurate documentation of morphological findings but also important in sharing knowledge and experience. Photographs of cadavers…

Human anatomy in physical therapy programs is a basic science course serving as a foundation for subsequent clinical courses. Integration of anatomy with a clinical emphasis throughout a curriculum provides opportunities for reinforcement of previously learned material. Considering the human cadaver laboratory as a fixed cost to our program, we…

It is argued in this article that the human body both in health and disease cannot be fully understood without adequately accounting for the different levels of human variation. The article focuses on variation due to ancestry, arguing that the inclusion of information pertaining to ancestry in human anatomy teaching materials and courses should…