The Evolution of Human Anatomy in India

Abstract

Anatomy has been a cornerstone of medical education for hundreds ofyears. But lately, over the last fewyears, Anatomy in undergraduate education has been undergoing a lot changes. Methods of teaching, methods of assessment, methods of cadaver procurement, embalming methods etc. all have undergone metamorphosis. Not only that, the tenure of the curriculum is on the decline, thus resulting in the course content also being on the decline. So who says Anatomy is always constant and can never change? We conducted a survey among the students to gauge their views regarding the changes in anatomy which had taken place over theyears and also their opinion regarding load of study in the short time span. We came to the conclusion that changes in Anatomy should be such that it should be clinically relevant for specialists to practice safely in the future and to provide a strong base for future clinical developments. This review focuses on how the study of anatomy in India has evolved through the centuries.