87 - Exploring the Current State of Inclusivity Within Anatomy Education

Poster Board Number: 87
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Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Abstract Body : Recent developments in the field of decolonisation have led to a rapid interest in aspects of diversity and inclusion within the anatomy curriculum. Both staff and students play a critical role in redeveloping the curricula to make it more inclusive. Enriching the anatomy teaching community with initiatives to help prepare students to face an ever-increasing diversity of our global working environment is vital for their success. The main objective of this study is to better understand what inclusivity in anatomy education means to diverse groups, and how we can best achieve it.

An online questionnaire was disseminated to staff who are involved in anatomy education. The questionnaire focussed on body and/or identity representation, inclusivity, initiatives, and barriers within the context of the following characteristics: age, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion or belief and sexuality. An equivalent questionnaire will be disseminated to anatomy students in early 2023. The second phase of this study will involve focus group interviews to get an in-depth understanding.

Partial data obtained from 62 respondents were used for this preliminary analysis and the focus will be on three aspects: representation of body and/or identity, inclusivity of current anatomy curricula and barriers encountered in improving inclusivity.

Responses were received from participants employed in Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America and Oceania. When asked whether they felt that their body and/or identity is represented in their anatomy curricula, the majority (n=43) of the respondents reported yes, 13 said no and 6 respondents said maybe. Amongst those who said no and maybe, the reasons attributed to their response fall under the following categories: age, body shape and size, gender, sexuality, skin tone and use of pronouns. When asked about the inclusivity of the anatomy curricula at their institution, 81% agreed or strongly agreed that their curricula are inclusive in terms of gender, this was followed by age (70%), sexuality (57%), ethnicity (50%), religion or belief (44%) and disability (38%). Amongst the 60% (n=37) of respondents who reported that their anatomy department has put in place initiatives to improve inclusivity, a majority (28%) of them encountered barriers when creating initiatives within ethnicity followed by gender (25%), disability (22%), religion or belief (22%), sexuality (17%) and age (11%).

Initial findings from this preliminary analysis suggests that gender is currently the most inclusive aspect of the global anatomy curriculum whereas ethnicity features highly in terms of encountered barriers. Whilst it is comforting to know that the majority of respondents felt personally represented in their anatomy curricula, it is vital to corelate this with their personal demographics such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion or belief and country of employment to fully understand their perceptions and make meaningful conclusions.

This preliminary analysis was based on partial data and data collection is still ongoing. Therefore, caution must be taken in the interpretation of these results as they provide an incomplete picture. Nevertheless, these initial findings provide important insights into the current state of inclusivity within anatomy education and provides a basis for understanding how to improve it from diverse perspectives. This represents a further step towards developing an inclusive anatomy curriculum.