Are We Facing the End of Gross Anatomy Teaching as We Have Known It for Centuries?

Ana Yoe-Cheng Chang Chan,1 Coen PM Stapper,2 Ronald LAW Bleys,3 Maarten van Leeuwen,2 Olle ten Cate4 1Department of Morphological Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, National Autonomous University of Leon (UNAN-Leon), Leon, Nicaragua; 2Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; 3Department of Anatomy, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; 4Utrecht Center for Research and Development of Health Professions Education, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the NetherlandsCorrespondence: Olle ten Cate, Utrecht Center for Research and Development of Health Professions Education, University Medical Center Utrecht, Universiteitsweg 98, 3584 CG, Utrecht, the Netherlands, Tel +31.88.75.57010, Fax +31.88.75.53409, Email T.j.tencate@umcutrecht.nlAbstract: The status of anatomy education in undergraduate medical education has dramatically changed over the course of the past century. From the most important and time-consuming component of the preclinical program, anatomy education has reduced in size and status, and yielded in curricular space to accommodate other disciplines and topics. Meanwhile, radiology has become more prominent, as a means to visualize anatomy, not only in clinical care but also in education. For this perspective paper, the authors, all with backgrounds in anatomy, radiology and/or medical education, conducted structured conversations with several academic colleagues with similar backgrounds, reviewed pertinent literature and analyzed the causes of the historical decline of a knowledge domain of medical education, that nevertheless is widely considered essential for medical students and graduates. After this analysis, the authors propose four ways forward. These directions include systematic peer teaching and development of anatomy education as a scholarly domain, further vertical integration with postgraduate medical education, full integration with radiology education, and capitalizing on educational technology. Schools in several industrialized countries have made steps in these directions, which can be further strengthened. In less affluent countries, and in countries with curricula strongly determined by tradition, these steps are less easy to make. To respond to changes in global health and health care, combined with the inevitable technological progress, and international mobility, we believe all schools will move in these directions, slower or faster.Keywords: anatomy education, radiology education, vertical integration, technology, future