Presence and future of the teaching of anatomy, histology and embryology in the medical curriculum

At the medical faculties of Hungarian universities, the structure of the human body is taught in an integrated course where anatomy, tissue and embryology form one subject. This paper reviews and reflects on the present and future of this complex subject. As the cornerstone of medical education, the teaching of anatomy must respond to the request of a progressively evolving medical science while providing medical education in a continuously changing social and economic environment. We face a student body that has grown up in a digital, often virtual world, but must become doctors under true hands-on trainings. For this, we need to add a new methodology of knowledge transfer in addition to the previously acknowledged good university practice. Notably, the knowledge of macroscopic and microscopic anatomy comes at the cadaver in the dissection room and at the microscope, respectively, where embryology is an essential support for understanding. Lectures, limited in number, shall serve understanding rather than communication of facts, the exercises shall deliver experience, while the exams should provide an objective, demanding reflection of the knowledge acquired by using complementary skills in the teacher -student communication during the semester. For our new and future anatomists, we must envision and ensure a future of scientific independence, in which the training of residents and specialists open new vistas. We must value and practice what is excellent and in demand based on the feedback of our Hungarian and international training; nonetheless, we must exploit and elaborate further possibilities in both graduate and postgraduate training and science.