External summary

Human Anatomy is a core component of the medical degree course plus courses allied to medicine such as radiography and physiotherapy.  There is limited opportunity across the UK to gain an in-depth knowledge of human anatomy plus there is an increasing shortage of people with a sound knowledge base in anatomy to adequately teach the subject.

All aspects of anatomy related to body handling will be taught; this will include health and safety, anatomy and the law, medical ethics.

There are three main components to the Edinburgh Course

Key features of the programme include:

• the opportunity to learn the anatomy of the human body by dissection;

• to gain a comprehensive knowledge of normal anatomy;

• to safely handle the body from its arrival to its final disposal;

• record keeping and the law;

• effective teaching, and assessment methods in anatomy.

Educational aims of programme

The principal educational aims of the course is quite specifically to give course participants a thorough knowledge in all aspects of anatomy – gross anatomy, embryology, neuroanatomy - to the level of being competent to teach it to medical students and to students in professions allied to medicine. 

Unique to the Edinburgh course is a module on teaching where students are introduced to contemporary methods of teaching and assessment.  The knowledge gained is put into practice by involving students in the teaching of undergraduate students.

The research project gives the student an opportunity gain a more in-depth knowledge of a particular aspect of anatomy and to present their findings by the writing of a dissertation.

By the end of the course students should be able to demonstrate:

Programme outcomes: Knowledge and understanding

Anatomical knowledge and understanding will be gained primarily through the dissection of the human body.  It will also be gained by the presentation of seminars on specific topics and in the writing of essays.

Teaching knowledge will be acquired by lectures, seminars and the preparation of a reflective portfolio.  The latter will look at what has been learnt from the teaching module and how it has been put into practice in a practical setting

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in research and enquiry

For the research project they are presented with a problem which they much analyse critically and then consider ways of investigating it.  Within the constraints of the time available, they are expected to present their findings to both other students on the course as well as academic staff members.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy

Graduates on the MSc Human Anatomy course undertake an anatomically based research project over a 3 month period during the summer vacation.  They are expected to work independently but under the supervision of someone expert in the field of research being undertaken. The findings of the project are presented in an assessed seminar and in a project write-up. 

Throughout they are expected to attend and contribute to seminars in a given area of anatomical research.

A major component of the Teaching Module is the production of a reflective portfolio.  This is where they must reflect on good teaching practice and how they themselves have modified their approach to teaching based on their personal experience of teaching undergraduate medical students (which is part of the course). 

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in communication

As referred to in 11c above graduates on the course have to present and discuss the findings of  their research project at an assessed seminar.  They are also expected to contribute to seminars given by their colleagues throughout the course and to be able to constructively criticise other peoples work.

All modules on the course involve discussion an element of discussion.  This plays an integral part in the acquisition of knowledge in all the modules.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness

Although all students on the course must have a biomedical background, by the nature of the course, we accept students onto the course with quite diverse backgrounds.  We capitalise on this diversity by using the experience that they have to help each other through the course. Examples of this are medical graduates helping non-medical graduates with some of the practical aspects of the course or others with IT experience helping those with limited IT skills.

We also have a mixture of home as well as international students on the course adding, not just to the academic part of the course, but also to its social aspects.

Programme outcomes: Technical/practical skills

• Manual skills are learnt through the dissection of the human body. 
• Laboratory practical skills are acquired during the research project work.
• The Teaching Module is specifically designed to give presentation skills such that lectures/presentations can be pitched at the right level for any particular audience.

Programme structure and features

Programme

There are two main strands to the programme, one being the in-depth study of the anatomy of the human body and all that this entails. The other is the development of different teaching methods for the teaching of human anatomy.

The opportunity exists for students to finish the course after the second semester when they will graduate with a Diploma in Human Anatomy. Alternatively they can do a summer vacation research project after which they will graduate with an MSc in Human Anatomy.

On the basis that a sound knowledge of gross anatomy including neuroanatomy is essential for the teaching of anatomy, a core component of the course is the dissection of the entire body over the two semesters; the quality of the dissections produced will be assessed throughout.

Complementing the gross anatomy will be a lecture based embryology course which will give an understanding of normal human development as seen by dissection, how normal development can go wrong and how this manifests itself in commonly observed congenital abnormalities.

Also covered in this part of the course are the health and safety and legal aspects of handling the body as well as an introduction to the ethics of using bodies in medical education.

The teaching component of the course will introduce students to the various methods used in the teaching of anatomy and their effectiveness.

It will involve, under supervision, the preparation of material for a teaching session for both small and large groups and the delivery of this material to undergraduate students. Methods of assessment will also be considered.

Those wishing to work towards an MSc will be required to complete a project during the summer vacation period.

This can be either a library based or practical/laboratory based project of the student’s choosing, under the direction of a member of the academic staff.

Key features of the programme include:

The credit rating for each of the modules on the Human Anatomy Course at SCQF Level 11 is as follows:

For the Award of a Certificate:  Students must pass 60 credits at SCQF Level 11or above with a mark of at least 40%.  The required courses are : Basic Human Anatomy 1 (20 credits) and Basic Human Anatomy 2 (20 credits).  A mark of less than 40% for any of the above courses means that the Certificate cannot be awarded.

For the award of a Diploma:  Students must pass 80 credits at SCQF Level 11 or above with a mark of at least 40% and attain an average of at least 40% for the 120 credits of study examined for the Diploma.  Students are required to pass Basic Human Anatomy 1 and Basic Human Anatomy 2 with a mark of at least 40% in order to achieve a Diploma.

For the award of a Masters:  Students must pass at least 80 credits at SCQF Level 11 with a mark of at least 50% in each of the courses which make up these credits and attain an average of at least 50 % for the 120 credits of study examined at the point of decision for progression.  Students are required to pass Basic Human Anatomy 1 & 2 with a mark of at least 50% in order to achieve a Masters Degree.  Students must also pass the Masters Dissertation with a mark of at least 50%.  If the student achieves les than 50% a Diploma will be awarded.

When all the marks for the taught components of the programme or diploma are available, if the student has achieved pass marks (40%) in at least 80 credits and has an overall average of 40% or more over the full 120 credits, then they will be awarded credits on aggregate for the failed courses, up to a maximum of 40 credits.  For a Certificate, a maximum of 20 credits may be awarded on aggregate..

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this programme of study will be able to demonstrate:

How you will be taught

Teaching is by lectures, seminars and tutorials. The dissection component of the course will be largely self-directed but with regular lectures to complement the practical work.

Progress will be regularly monitored by members of anatomy staff. Specific dissections will be required which will be assessed for both quality and for their potential use in teaching.

There will be an opportunity to put into practice what is being learned in the teaching module by teaching students on the medical degree course. There will also be guest lectures by experts in their specific field to complement the lecture course.

Following on from the taught component of the course, students will have the opportunity to carry out a research project during the summer. This may take the form of a library or practical work. Topics will be open but should address basic science, morphological, clinically applied and surgical related human anatomy. Possible topics could include anatomical variation in the human population, investigation of alternative surgical approaches etc. Students will be encouraged to liaise with clinical and surgical colleagues to develop valid topics for research.

Assessment

Each module is assessed as follows:

• Basic Human Anatomy 1 & 2                 
  • - fortnightly oral examination (20%)
  • x 2 1200 word essay (20%)
  • practical examination (60%)

 

• Teaching Anatomy

• semester 1 essay (20%)
• semester 2 presentation (20%)
• portfolio (60%)

 

• Embryology

• 1600 word essay (40%)
• EMQ/MCQ (60%)

 

• Neuroanatomy

• seminar presentation (30%)
• practical examination (70%)

 

• Body Handling/Anatomy and the Law

• Body Handling 1200 word essay (50%)
• Anatomy and the Law 1200 word essay (50%)

 

• The Human Body, Ethics, Society

• 3000 – 5000 word essay (100%)

 

• Dissertation

• 10,000 word dissertation (80%)
• oral presentation (20%)

Teaching and learning methods and strategies

Teaching and Learning Methods and Strategies

Teaching and Learning strategies employed at the University of Edinburgh consist of a variety of different methods appropriate to the programme aims. The graduate attributes listed above are met through a teaching and learning framework (detailed below) which is appropriate to the level and content of the course.

Teaching and Learning Activities

Assessment methods and strategies

Assessment

Courses can be assessed by a diverse range of methods and often takes the form of formative work which provides the student with on-going feedback as well as summative assessment which is submitted for credit.  The modules to be assessed in the Human Anatomy Course and how they are assessed are listed below.

Basic Human Anatomy 1 & 2:

Class tests (oral examination) – The student’s knowledge of the anatomy of the region dissected will be tested by fortnightly oral examination                                          (20%)

Each student will write a ~1200 word (3 pages) account of one of the regions dissected in each semester to include clinical and surgical correlations                                     (20%)

A practical ‘Spot’ examination where an understanding of anatomy structure and function will be assessed                                                                                        (60%)

Teaching Anatomy:

Semester 1 Essay  (20%)

Semester 2 Presentation  (20%)

A portfolio assessment of teaching materials  (60%)

Embryology:

Essay  (40%)

EMQ/MCQ Examination  (60%)

Body Handling/Anatomy and the Law

Health & Safety Essay  (50%)

Legislation Governing the Teaching of Anatomy  (50%)

The Human Body, Ethics, Society and the Law

Essay  (100%)

Neuroanatomy

Seminar presentation  (30%)

Oral Examination  (70%)

MSc Dissertation

Presentation  (20%)

Dissertation  (80%)

Credit Rating of Each Module

Basic Human Anatomy 1 & 2:                                              40

Teaching Anatomy                                                                20

Embryology                                                                            10

Body Handling/Anatomy and the Law                                 10

The Human Body, Ethics, Society and the Law                 10

Neuroanatomy                                                                       10

Dissertation                                                                            80

Total                                                                                        180

All assessments are both formative and summative as feedback is provided after each assessment.

Career opportunities

Students in the past have gone onto a PhD programme with a view to teaching anatomy in an academic environment.  Others have used it as a stepping stone into medicine or professions allied to medicine such as physiotherapy or radiography. 

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