Perspectives of Surgical Branch Residents on Anatomy Education and Its Importance

Objectives: To evaluate the pre-graduation anatomy training of residents from multiple surgical specialties and to assess their views and needs concerning anatomy during their surgical residency training.
Methods: Following the acquisition of the requisite institutional approvals, a questionnaire prepared using the Google Survey platform was circulated online among physicians at various stages of surgical residency training. This multicenter study included participants from multiple hospitals across different cities in Türkiye. Questions about participants' demographic characteristics and experiences with anatomy training during both their undergraduate and specialist training were asked. All responses were analyzed statistically.
Results: A total of 143 surgical residents participated in the study. Of the participants, 31.5% were female and 68.5% were male, and the mean age was 28±2.8 years. Of the residents, 67.1% had taken anatomy courses in the first two semesters of medical school, and 67.7% stated that they found their medical education inadequate for surgical residency. During their undergraduate education, 97.2% of the participants received face-to-face anatomy practice training, 47.6% received training with cadavers and plastic models. In addition, those who were trained with cadavers were more supportive of anatomy integration (p=0.031). It was also noteworthy that senior residents (defined as those with ≥2 years of residency training) considered anatomy integration into surgical residency training more necessary (p=0.006).
Conclusion: This study highlights the critical role of anatomy knowledge in surgical training and emphasizes its importance in the effective integration of education during surgical residency training.

Keywords: Anatomy, integration, surgical education, surgical residency