Medical Students Want More Anatomy Education

An article in the ANZ Journal of Surgery published for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has called for more anatomy education in medical degrees.
The statement was made by the Australian Medical Students Association (AMSA) on the development of explicit guidelines on the core anatomical knowledge expected of graduates for safe clinical practice. It was developed following a review of current Australian Medical Council (AMC) curriculum guidelines and comparisons to overseas bodies, like the General Medical Council in the United Kingdom.
The review also refers to the ANZ Association of Clinical Anatomists' call for basic standards, a reflection of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland core syllabus in anatomy detailing the expected minimum knowledge of recent graduates.
The statement from AMSA comes at the same time as the number of extracurricular anatomical elective courses, such as those run from James Cook University in Cairns, has increased.
Co-author of the article and medical student John Farey says that traditional methods of anatomical education, like dissection, should be available to all medical students across the board.
“The AMC should collaborate with Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ) and the postgraduate colleges to develop clear guidelines that make explicit, the core knowledge of anatomy, expected of medical graduates at each stage of their career,” Mr Farey said.
“The absence of national guidelines for the teaching of anatomy means that the level of basic anatomical knowledge held by some graduates might be inadequate for competent clinical practice, as curriculum standards and methods of assessment are left up to individual institutions,” he said.