Paper 0910/BMSBoS/7
College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
School of Biomedical Sciences Board of Studies
3 March 2010
Courses for MSc in Human Anatomy
Brief description of the paper
The paper contains details of the courses that will form the MSc in Human Anatomy degree
programme. The programme will run for the first time in the academic year 2010-11.
Action requested
For approval.
Resource implications
Resources will be covered by the School of Biomedical Sciences under the business plan for the
MSc Human Anatomy degree programme.
Equality and Diversity
There are no equality and diversity implications.
Originator of the paper
Drs Gordon Findlater and Simon Parson
26 February 2010
Freedom of information
This paper to be included in open business.
1
Courses for the MSc Human Anatomy Degree Programme
The MSc in Human Anatomy aims to provide PG training in gross human anatomy and methods for
its teaching, and is intended for a range of National and International students. This will include
those graduating from life sciences and related disciplines, those intending to extend their
knowledge of anatomy and/or those who wish to pursue a career in the teaching of Human
Anatomy.
Additionally there are clinically qualified individuals who wish to transfer into a teaching
environment who would also benefit greatly from a formal course in anatomy and in the methods of
teaching anatomy.
The passing on of anatomical and related knowledge from a position of clinical insight remains a
corner stone of clinical practice. It is truly a subject that crosses the undergraduate/postgraduate
spectrum in terms of extent and depth. To be taught efficiently, anatomy needs to be contextualized
and focused on the needs of individual learners and their stage of development. This requires a clear
understanding of positioning anatomy courses strategically and an understanding of the teaching
techniques involved.
Therefore the purpose of this course is to ensure anatomical knowledge and supporting subjects are
appropriately known and understood and to ensure that potential future teachers of anatomy
understand the appropriate clinical context, ethical issues and educational aspects of teaching
delivery. Clearly, by actively involving the PG students not only in the formal learning of Human
Anatomy but in the research, teaching and assessment.
The programme has been approved by the College Postgraduate Committee following submission
of the Programme proposal and Business Plan. The School of Biomedical Sciences is asked to
approve the following courses.
Proposed Programme Structure
Certificate:
Diploma:
Masters:
At least 60 credits worth of courses passed at 40% and above. Compulsory courses
would be Basic Human Anatomy 1 & 2, and Teaching Anatomy 1 & 2.
120 credits worth of courses passed at 50% and above
180 credits worth of courses passed at 50% and above
All courses are compulsory and are SCQF level 11.
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Course details
Semester 1
A. Basic Human Anatomy 1, Upper and lower limb.
Course organiser:Dr Gordon Findlater
Credit points: 20 credits
Course description:
This basic human anatomy component is a core constituent of the course and runs throughout
semesters 1.
Individuals in groups of 4/5 will be expected to dissect a whole human cadaver to the level of that
contained in Cunningham’s Manual of Practical Anatomy. Specifically, they will be expected to
prepare high quality dissections of various regions of the human body and to acquire the knowledge
of regional and systematic anatomy sufficient to understand and then explain to others what is
shown by each dissection. Each student working alone and collaboratively will produce material
which will be assessed in terms of its quality and value for teaching as an aid.
Learning Aims and Objectives:
 To understand the anatomy of the human body both systematically and regionally.
 To be able to dissect human cadaveric material to a standard required such that the material
can be used to teach undergraduates, postgraduates and professionals.
 To be able to clearly demonstrate and explain the anatomy as dissected.
Outcomes and Outputs:
 Each student will generate a series of six dissected specimens (prosections) across courses 1
and 5.
 Each student will gain a clear understanding and appreciation of the regions studied.
 Each student will demonstrate ability to succinctly explain the key anatomical features and
relations of each region of the body studied.
Components of Assessment:
 The quality of the prosections produced will be judged by staff
(40%)
 In conjunction with the above, the student’s knowledge of the anatomy of the region
dissected will be tested by oral examination
(40%)
 Each student will write an account of one of the regions dissected in each semester to
include clinical and surgical correlations
(20%)
B. Teaching Anatomy 1
Course organiser: Prof. David Rowley
Credit points: 10 credits
Course description: This is a series of modules derived from a text produced by Pitts & Rowley –
‘Helping Surgeons to Learn’. The practicalities of teaching would be rehearsed during anatomical
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teaching sessions. Observation of the assessment carried out on surgical training courses would also
be provided. The modules would include:
 Adult learning styles
 Preparing a teaching session
 Teaching in small group practical classes (2 sessions)
 Teaching in small group tutorials (2 sessions)
 Preparing better slides
 Lecturing skills
 Providing supporting educational material
 The use of reusable learning objects
 Curriculum planning and design
 Assessment methodology (2 sessions)
 Blueprinting of assessments
 Workplace based assessment and giving feedback
 The teaching and learning style would be small group work with considerable interaction.
We would be facilitating learning rather than leading it.
 Students would be expected to lead sessions using prepared work based on the provided
learning resources described above.
Learning Aims and Objectives:
 To provide or improve upon teaching skills.
 To promote the role of teacher as a facilitator learning environments.
 To understand the imperative of adequate preparation and design of learning sessions
 Provide insight for students as to their strengths and limitations as communicators and help
them improve.
 Provide context as to where specific teaching and learning goals lie in the curriculum.
 Provide expertise in constructing and conducting assessments.
 To promote understanding as to how students learn using a ‘reflector model’.
Outcomes and Outputs:
 The teaching and learning style would be student-centred such that students produce
teaching material, which can then be assessed.
 Generation of a series of packages of material relating to teaching, learning resources and
assessment methodology and frameworks which form a student portfolio.
Components of Assessment:
 Regular peer review of teaching sessions
 Tutor review of teaching sessions
 A portfolio assessment of teaching materials
C. Body Handling/Anatomy and the Law.
Course organiser: Dr Gordon Findlater
Credit points: 10 credits
4
(20%)
(40%)
(40%)
Course Description:
There are two parts to this course, 1) - Health & Safety at work and how it relates to anatomy and
body handling and 2) - the legislation that governs the activities of Anatomy Departments both in
Scotland and throughout the UK.
1) Health & Safety
This will be both a lecture (5 x 1 hour) and practical based (as and when appropriate)
course where students will initially learn about Health & Safety at work in general and
then more specifically about how this relates to working with bodies. Lectures will be
given by those acquaint with the day to day running of an anatomy department plus
there will be lectures from the School of Biomedical Sciences Health & Safety
Manager. To be covered will be the personal protection required to be worn from when
a body first enters the department to when it leaves and the measures to be taken to
reduce the risk of the spread of infection to those handling the body, the physical
handling of the body, the safe handling of chemicals for embalming of the body etc.
Students will have to carry out a Risk Assessment and complete the appropriate
documentation for each new procedure to be carried out.
Students will have the opportunity to put into practice what is being covered in the
lectures when bodies are received by the department.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the course, students will:
 understand the need to follow safe working practices at all times,
 understand the importance of and be able to complete COSHH and Risk Assessment
forms for all aspects of anatomical work
 be able to safely embalm a body
 be competent in safely handling and dissecting an un-embalmed body
2) Legislation Governing the Teaching of Anatomy
This part of the course will look at the legislation governing the use of bodies in
anatomy departments. It will consist of 1) – 10 x 1 hour lectures. These will be given
mainly by members of academic staff; some will also be given by invited speakers such
as Her Majesty’s inspector of Anatomy (Scotland) and members of the Health
Directorate of the Scottish Executive who will explain the workings of the Anatomy Act
from their point of view, 2) – seminars. These will test the understanding of the
Anatomy Act by discussing real life and hypothetical situations involving the Act and
how they were/may be resolved.
Topics to be covered in the lectures are the history of anatomy and the involvement of
Edinburgh in the introduction of the Anatomy Act (1832), how it has been amended
over the years resulting in the present Human Tissue Act (2006) which the Anatomy
Act is now part of, the difference in the Act between Scotland and England, the
importance of record keeping, the requirements of the Act itself, the Anatomy
Regulations and the Anatomy Code of Practice. Also to be covered will be the licensing
requirements for both teachers of anatomy and the areas where anatomy is to be taught..
Students will see how the Anatomy Act functions in practice by being actively involved
in the day to day activities relating to the Anatomy Act from the labelling of a body on
its arrival to its final disposal at the crematorium.
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Learning Outcomes
 A thorough knowledge of the Anatomy Act, Anatomy Regulations and the Code of
Practice to be followed when handling bodies.
 An appreciation of the importance of the Anatomy Act and how it must be adhered to.
 An appreciation of the importance of meticulous record keeping.
 An understanding of the relationship between the Anatomy Department and Her Majesty’s
Inspector of Anatomy/Scottish Executive.
Assessment
 An essay concerning Health & Safety at work
 An essay concerning legislation governing the teaching of anatomy
and seminar presentations
(30%)
(30%)
(40%)
D. Embryology
Course organiser: To be decided
Credit points: 10 credits
Course Description:
The course will consist of 21 Lectures (2 Lectures per week, 1 hour each lecture) associated with 1
Lecture-Demonstration given at the end of the Course in the Human Embryology-Fetal Collection
(3 hours). All students will be provided with a comprehensive set of well-illustrated Lecture Notes,
so that minimal note taking will be necessary.
The principal aim of this Course will be to cover all aspects of Human Development covering the
events associated with Ovulation of the egg, through Fertilization, and Pre- and Post-implantation
embryonic and fetal development of all of the Body Systems.
Learning outcomes: On completion of this Course, students should have gained a basic knowledge
of normal human development, allowing them to appreciate the organisation of the body as seen by
dissection, how normal development can go wrong, and how this manifests itself in commonly
observed congenital abnormalities.
The topics covered will be as follows:
Gametogenesis, Development from fertilization to the blastocyst stage, Implantation and placental
development, Embryogenesis,
Development of: the heart and cardiovascular system; the
alimentary system; the urogenital system; the limbs, and twinning, the branchial arch apparatus,
tongue and thyroid gland; the palate and pituitary gland; of the face and eye, spinal cord and brain,
Spina bifida and hydrocephalus, Development of fetal skull, Conjoined twinning.
In addition there will be a Lecture-Demonstration in The Human Embryology-Fetal Collection. An
extensive collection of fetal material held within the department will be used to demonstrate many
of the subjects covered in prior lectures.
Components of assessment of this Course:
 An essay on a topic of the student’s choosing
 A prescribed essay
6
(40%)
(60%).
Semester 2
E. Basic Human Anatomy 2, Trunk and Head and Neck.
Course organiser: Dr Gordon Findlater
Credit points: 20 credits
Course structure and assessment as for Basic Human Anatomy 1, but covering different regions of the
body,
F. Teaching Anatomy 2.
Course organiser: Prof. David Rowley
Credit points: 10 credits
Continuation of semester 1 course – description as above.
G. The Human Body, Ethics, Society and the Law
Course organiser: Prof. Kenneth Boyd
Credit points: 10 credits
Course description: The course will consist of lectures and seminars on:
 ethical principles, perspectives and arguments relevant to the biomedical sciences;
 social and cultural perspectives on the human body, anatomical investigation, and the moral
status of the human embryo;
 posthumous and proprietary interests in the human body;
 international, comparative and UK law on cadavers, organs, tissues and genetic material;
 the responsibilities of anatomists in the use of morally problematic material to the bereaved
in professional education.
Learning Outcomes: On completion of the course, students should have gained:
 a theoretical and practical grounding in ethical principles and perspectives relevant to the
biomedical sciences;
 a knowledge of UK and comparative law and regulation relevant to anatomy;
 a critical awareness of social, cultural and moral perspectives on the human body and
anatomical investigation;
 a developing capacity for reflective professional practice.
Components of Assessment:
 A oral/poster presentation on an aspect of the course
 An essay on a different course topic
7
(40%)
(60%)
H. Neuroanatomy
Course organiser: Dr Tom Gillingwater
Credit points: 10 credits
Course description: Lecture (10x1 hour lectures), practical class (5x3 hour practicals), and seminar
(5x2 hour seminars) based course covering core aspects of gross and cellular neuroanatomy,
incorporating an overview of significant diseases of the nervous system. Lectures and practical classes
will cover all the major areas associated with gross and cellular neuroanatomy, based around five main
topics (each taking up two weeks of the course):





Gross anatomy of the central and peripheral nervous systems (including blood supply and
meninges)
Sensory pathways
Motor pathways
Cranial nerves
Spinal cord, spinal nerves and autonomic nervous system
Practical classes will use prosected human specimens alongside models and medical imaging (e.g.
arteriograms), with students directed towards salient features using an in-house generated practical
workbook. Lectures and practical classes will be supplemented by student-directed learning, based
around the Crossman & Neary “Neuroanatomy: An Illustrated Colour Text” textbook. For the seminar
sessions, students will study and present scientific papers and/or review articles which address the
relationship between neuroanatomy and neurodegenerative disease. Each of the five sessions will focus
on a different set of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, motor
neuron disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke), and will be scheduled to fit with the topic being taught
in concurrent lecture and practical sessions (e.g. stroke when taking taught sessions covering blood
supply to the brain). The class will be split into 5 groups and each group will be responsible for
presenting the papers at one weekly seminar. Presentations will be marked by academic staff.
Learning outcomes: On completion of the course, students will:
 have an appreciation of the gross and cellular anatomy of the nervous system;
 have an ability to identify and trace functional pathways at different levels throughout the
nervous system;
 be able to relate structure to function in the context of neurodegenerative disease; iv)
 be able critically read and present data from scientific papers.
Components of assessment:
 Seminar presentations
(40%)
 a practical ‘Spot’ type examination where understanding of neuroanatomical structure and
function will be assessed
(60%)
To be awarded a Diploma for Masters students would have to pass Human Anatomy Research
Dissertation – Diploma or Human Anatomy Research Dissertation – Masters, respectively.
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I. Human Anatomy Research Dissertation – Diploma
Course organiser: Dr Simon Parson
Credit points: 20 credits
Students studying for the Diploma qualification will write a dissertation on a tropic related to the
course, e.g. teaching methods, historical or legal aspects etc.
Assessment
 A 5,000 word dissertation
(100%)
J. Human Anatomy Research Dissertation – Masters
Course organiser: Dr Simon Parson
Credit points: 80 credits
Students studying for the Masters qualification will carry out Either a Library dissertation on a tropic
related to the course, e.g. teaching methods, historical or legal aspects OR an anatomical,
morphological or surgical-related, laboratory research project and dissertation,
Assessment
 A 10,000 word dissertation
(80%
 An oral presentation
(20%)
A typical teaching week would be arranged as follows:
Dissection: 15 hrs per week (5 x am or pm sessions) Self-directed from a dissection manual
Lecture: 4 x 1hr per week (course 1, 3 and 4 in semester 1: course 5, 7 and 8 in semester 2)
Practical: 1 x 2 hr fortnight for course 8 in semester 2
Seminar/ Tutorial: 1 x 1hr week (course 2 in semester 1: course 7 in semester 2)
Assessment: 1 x 2hr/ week students will be assessed on their dissection
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thurs
am
Dissect
2 x Lecture
Seminar
2 x Lecture
pm
Dissect
Dissect
Assess
Dissect
9
Fri
Dissect
DEGREE PROGRAMME TABLE
Degree Programme Title: Certificate/Diploma/MSc in Human Anatomy
Degree Type: Postgraduate taught
Normal
year
taken
1
Course
Basic Human Anatomy 1, Upper and lower limb
Basic Human Anatomy 2, Trunk and Head and Neck
Teaching Anatomy 1
Teaching Anatomy 2
Body Handling/Anatomy and the Law
Embryology
The Human Body, Ethics, Society and the Law
Neuroanatomy
ONE OF
Human Anatomy Research Dissertation – Diploma
Human Anatomy Research Dissertation – Masters
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Schedules
Level
Credit
Total
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
20
20
10
10
10
10
10
10
T
T
11
11
20
60