Anatomy in Medicine

Anatomy in Medicine
Anatomy is the study of the structure of the body. Today it seems integral to the study of medicine but structured explanations of disease were long considered secondary to those of function.

The word ‘anatomy’ is derived from the Greek word –dissection. It still implies cutting, but also structure (morphology) – the shape, size and relationships of body parts, It is also metaphor for the analysis of any problem.

Medicine is the study of disease and its treatments, its understand disease doctors focus on abnormalities of structure and function, which are the objects of the complimentary disciplines of anatomy and physiology.

Traditionally these two domains have competed for curriculum time, laboratory space and pride of place in the minds of practitioners.

Of course considerable overlap takes place between structure and function; a broken leg does not work very well; neither does a heart with a hole in its septum.

Medical cultures that emphasized the study of anatomy peaked centuries ago, in Alexandria, then decline, peaked again during the Renaissance then declined and peaked again in the last century.

The present form of medical education still reflects this most recent heyday but the perceived centrality of anatomy in modern medicine may on the wane again.
Anatomy in Medicine