Anatomy for ALL - Making Anatomy Accessible
Throughout 2020, Dr Catrin Rutland, of the University of Nottingham, led a team of authors to produce scientific papers for young people. This innovative and forward thinking outreach opportunity combined accessible science and the creative arts to engage their audience. The papers aimed to portray science, especially anatomy/microanatomy, to the public which could also be used as a resource for teachers, parents and indeed members of the Anatomical Society and other scientists as part of their outreach and engagement programmes. In addition they wanted to bring together art and science to present anatomy in a fun and innovative way.
Undergraduate student authors Zoe Skinner (left) proudly showing one of our published papers and Natasha Clark (right) working on one of the papers for young people.
This project was supported by an Anatomical Society Public Engagement and Outreach Grant, and with this, the team produced 6 scientific papers:
The papers were published by Frontiers and reach people on a global level from all socio-economic groups. They are inclusive, develop external relations and research impact, encourage scientific and creative teaching and learning, and highlight anatomical research and teaching excellence to the public.
The dynamic team of authors consisted of: 14 people from across differing career stages, with 2 undergraduate and 2 postgraduate students, 1 post-doctoral researcher, 2 technicians, 3 academics, 1 director and CEO of Twycross zoo, 1 independent artist/science communicator, 1 primary school teacher and 1 scientist in industry, from across the UK, Ireland and Portugal.
In addition to presenting different authors as role models for young people, the team tried to highlight people from different backgrounds and cultures within the papers with careful consideration of gender and BAME. A good example is in the ‘Importance of Anatomy’ where we highlight historical figures ranging from Egypt, USA and UK, male and female, the first African American female doctor and other interesting people. They also highlighted the range of activities and careers that anatomists undertake, and the types of people who use anatomy.
