Eur J Anat, 18 (4): 353-360 (2014)

The philosophy and ethics of anatomy teaching

Erich Brenner^1,3 and Diogo Pais^2,3

¹Division of Clinical and Functional Anatomy, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, ²Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal, ³Members of the Trans-European Pedagogic Anatomical Research Group (TEPARG)

ABSTRACT Philosophical and ethical considerations in anatomical education involve a variety of issues. This chapter tries to address some of these. Anatomical education must be valid and relevant in terms of general educational objectives. In order to go beyond the rote memorization of facts, anatomical education must include functional and clinical relevance. Furthermore, anatomical education should provide not only knowledge, but also skills and attitudes. These attitudes can be fostered by the involvement of anatomy in medical humanities. Furthermore, there are three main items to be dwelled upon: sex/gender, population/ethnicity, and age. Finally, anatomical education should address also cadaver-related ethics, comprising sociological issues including the nature of donation, and dealing with death amongst students and staff.

Keywords: Basic educational philosophy, Ethics of anatomy, Gender, Ethnicity, Age, Sociology, Donation, Skills and attitudes, Medical humanities