Digital and Social Media in Anatomy Education

The use of images in various forms (drawing, photography, digital applications) has always been intrinsically associated with anatomy; however, the way in which anatomy educators and students create, access, view and interact with images has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. The method that anatomy educators use to engage with students and the wider public and how students engage with each other and faculty has also changed since the turn of the century, largely due to the emergence of social media. These two facets, the move towards digital images and the use of social media, are now intricately interlinked because social media enable anatomy educators to share digital learning resources easily and instantly to a global audience. This new trend of using social media to share digital images has created some ethical dilemmas that anatomy educators are researching and seeking guidance on to ensure that they are representing the potential conflicting needs and/or requirements of different stakeholders, including donors, donor families, students, the public, regulators and anatomy educators themselves. Meeting the various needs of stakeholders is complex; however, this chapter suggests an ethical approach for how digital images and social media can continue to be part of anatomy education.