Health professional students' perspectives on diversity and inclusion in anatomy curricula

Health professional students exposed to diverse curricula, covering a range of subjects, personnel, and resources, are better prepared to understand perspectives different from their own. Anatomy courses can be a place to model and reinforce a variety of diversity and inclusion topics as the inherent variations in the human body naturally lend themselves to emphasize such content. This study aimed to explore students' perceptions on the importance of incorporating diversity into anatomy courses and whether they feel adequately represented in their curricula.

A voluntary survey was distributed to 505 students currently enrolled in or recently completing an anatomy course.

Results collected from 186 students revealed that 70.5% of students considered diversity inclusion in anatomy curricula to be very or fairly important, while 20.2% were neutral and 9.2% felt it was minimally important. Students from racial and ethnic minority groups were more likely to report feeling underrepresented compared to their white peers (p < .001). Additionally, students suggested improvements for integrating diversity, including the inclusion of more content on anatomical variations across populations that reflect local demographics. They also expressed a strong interest in learning about the historical context of human donor populations. Students proposed appointing a "diversity and inclusion student liaison" to facilitate feedback and assist faculty in promoting inclusivity.

Outcomes demonstrate that most students favor a deliberate, broad inclusion of diverse anatomical content. These findings highlight the need to incorporate diverse anatomical content and cultural contexts into anatomy curricula, offering actionable recommendations for fostering a more inclusive and responsive learning environment in health professional education.