Anatomy Education becomes “Alive”

Anatomy is the important first big subject in medical school. It is a true basic science, because all the other later subjects are dependent on the knowledge of what are the different parts of the body. Gross anatomy looks at the body parts as we observe them in actual life. Histology looks at what are the types of tissues that form these body parts, and how these structures get to work together. Biomolecular studies now look at the basic cellular components and functions at even smaller aspects. Having a firm understanding of what the body parts are gives us better knowledge of how they function, how and where disease. The basic structure of the human body does not change, at least in our lifetimes. Thus, there was the belief and understanding that the science of anatomy may be static. There may not be much excitement in the study of anatomy and thus in the teaching of it. Competent clinicians, however, particularly those in the surgical specialties, need a deep understanding of anatomy for safe clinical procedures. Students may have had very limited exposure to anatomy during clinical training. There is a concern that medical students are ill-prepared in anatomy when entering clerkships and residency programs.1 It was thus very challenging to teach it and to learn it. A literature review and analysis by Kumar et al. showed that there were deficiencies in anatomical schedule, curriculum, teaching methodologies, and evaluation system in present medical education programs.2 In recent years, the development of technology and the creative crop of faculty members have made the teaching and learning of anatomy very exciting. This special issue is about the teaching of Anatomy, with articles based on the experiences and research of the faculty of the Department of Anatomy of the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine. A lead article describes a short history of the department, which was actually one of the first departments established in the medical school. The article focuses on its rich experience in the teaching of anatomy which has definitely evolved through the years (Genuino et al., The Department of Anatomy in the University of the Philippines College of Medicine: Dissecting the History).Gross anatomy, for many of the past generations of medical students, involved dissecting cadavers preserved in formalin and found in the third floor of the main building of the college. Cadaver-based instruction has survived as the main instructional t