Scottish anatomy departments: adapting to change

F. R. Pryde, S. M. Black

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Objectives
    To document changes to the academic infrastructure of Scottish
    departments of anatomy over the past 20 years and compare the strategic
    approaches adopted by each institution to ensure continued provision of
    the subject to medical students.
    Design
    Interviews with principal anatomy staff members to obtain targeted
    information (staff numbers, staff recruitment, student numbers,
    staff:student ratio and contact hours in the medical curriculum) by
    investigating three temporal snapshots chosen at 10 year intervals
    (academic years 1983/4, 1993/4 and 2003/4).
    Participants
    Principal teaching staff members from the anatomy departments at the
    five Scottish medical schools: University of Aberdeen, University of
    Dundee, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow and the University
    of St Andrews. Additional information was forthcoming from the
    admissions office of each University.
    Results
    Over the past 20 years the Scottish anatomy schools have weathered a
    variety of external and internal influences and each school has adopted
    very individual strategies to the delivery and maintenance of their subject.
    Some schools have unquestionably been more affected than others but all
    have responded in a unique way to the demands of the disciplines they
    choose to subserve. In general, each school has seen a decline in the
    compliment of teachers (staff + demonstrators) whereas the student
    number has increased dramatically. Each department has micromanaged
    its proportions of lectures, dissecting room practical time and tutorials to
    best fit their student base, staff capabilities and the requirements of,
    and/or alterations to, the medical curriculum offered in their institution.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)16-20
    JournalScottish Medical Journal
    Volume51
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2006

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