The study of human anatomy represents the first fundamental step of an academic and clinical career: lesson learned from an experimental training program in Italy

Abstract

The study of human anatomy represents the starting point of the medical background. A good scholar of human anatomy summarises the theory and the practice on cadavers, in that the absence of one of the two impinges on a comprehensive knowl- edge of the human body, i.e. the road map for every physicians. We herby report the experience at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Chair of Human Anatomy of the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, where exchanging programs with several International Academic Institutions worldwide have been established over the last dec- ade with the aim of providing a comprehensive knowledge in human anatomy, through both frontal lessons and dissection activities on cadavers. Students participating to these trainings were afterwards enrolled as “tutors” in the teaching laboratories for stu- dents of the 1st and 2nd year of the Medical School, sharing their knowledge with younger students and improving their teaching skills as well. These tutorial activities have been carried out even after the achievement of the Medical Degree, allowing an efficient interaction between the clinical knowledge of the young medical doctors and the teaching purposes of the anatomy courses. Finally, the International environment of the exchange programs represented the basis for further research and clinical ex- periences carried out by the tutors themselves, dramatically influencing the first steps of their careers. But the main issue of this presentation is the fact that in Italy and namely at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Chair of Human Anatomy of Bolo- gna University, the gross anatomy in dissecting room is no longer a dream, but a solid reality that offers the possibility to undergraduate, postgraduate students, residents and specialists to renew constantly the knowledge of human anatomy, just carrying out dissections on cadavers.