Eur J Anat, 7 (1): 19-22 (2003)

Web-based course for teaching Human Anatomy. The UPF experience

Pereira J.A., Meri A., Molina-Ros A., Molina-Andreu O.

Dept. Ciencies Exp. de la Salut, Fac. Ciences de la Salut de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; Fac. Ciencies de la Salut de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, C/ Dr. Aigüader 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain

ABSTRACT The extraordinary development of new technologies has led to enormous changes in Undergraduate Education. These changes concern several aspects in teacher/student relationships, and imply new approaches to the teaching of theoretical and practical classes and to the preparation of additional materials. Human Anatomy is an ideal subject with which to use these new teaching tools. The teaching methods for this subject are easily adapted to new technologies, and with the introduction of new imaging and therapeutic techniques the need for knowledge has also changed significantly in recent years. In the last few years many initiatives that link new needs in anatomic knowledge with the new facilities offered by computer technology have been taken and show promising results. The use of multimedia materials makes the subject much more appealing for new generations of students, who are more familiar with computers than teachers and are accustomed to using research materials and information from non-conventional resources. Here we describe our experience over the last four years of introducing multimedia materials via Internet to teach Human Anatomy in the Biology degree at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona (Spain).

Keywords: anatomy, article, computer system, diagnostic imaging, education program, Internet, intranet, medical research, resource management, Spain, teaching, technology