Education Committee Paper of the Month

'Paper of the Month ‘Empowering anatomists at all career stages: The vital role of reflective practice for professional growth’'

Authors: Elena Patera, Olga Avilova, Bipasha Choudhury, Dianne Burns

DOI link: https://doi.org/10.1002/ase.70271

The summary below is provided by Elena Patera (Human Anatomy Resource Centre, University of Liverpool, UK)

• Have you ever wondered how often we hear about ‘reflective practice’ in our day-to-day job?

• Do we only get to hear about reflective practice when it’s time for our annual progress review or as part of an application for a promotion?

These questions are particularly relevant in anatomy education, given the diverse pathways through which anatomists enter the profession. Anatomists are known for their diverse academic and professional backgrounds, bringing diversity into the field of anatomy which is one of the things that makes it unique! It might be safe to assume that many anatomists enter academia without having received any formal training in pedagogy. Whilst they may have the most advanced anatomical knowledge, can we assume that they have the skills to teach students effectively, to design effective instructional material that is informed by research-based guidelines, or to identify their own biases and how their perceptions of the world may affect their teaching practice and subsequently their learners’ experience?

Anatomists have varying levels of teaching experience, educational experiences, and professional needs according to the stage of their academic career, their role and their responsibilities. Supporting the professional growth of anatomy educators is an investment in the future of anatomy, and it is a long-term commitment that can be influenced by multiple factors:

- Institutional support

o What initiatives are available within institutions to help support anatomy educators’ professional growth and engagement with reflective practice?

- Personal professional development

o What do educators do individually to continue to grow as educators?

o Do educators engage in critical self-reflection and consider how their own perspectives may shape their students’ experience?

- Culture of reflective practice

o Is reflective practice perceived by educators as a ‘tick-box’ exercise?

o If so, why? How can we change this perception and cultivate reflective practice as an integral component of anatomists’ professional journey?

Engaging in critical self-reflection is not simply about examining the technical aspects of teaching. Instead, educators are challenged to consider their underlying assumptions, biases, and values, and how these shape their students' experience. But how can educators translate critical self-reflection into their everyday practice? Have you ever heard of a teaching philosophy statement, the ‘teaching squares’ approach, or a teaching portfolio? If not, you can read our article, in which we recommend three potential strategies that anatomy educators can use as part of their reflective practice toolkit. These practical recommendations are summarized below:

These three strategies offer practical ways to make reflective practice part of your professional journey. If you are unsure about how to get started, the important thing is to start! You can, for example, start by taking reflective notes after a session you have delivered, or during the process of designing a new module. Although there are several models for reflective practice, in our viewpoint commentary, we also discuss two particular models: (1) Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and (2) Brookfield’s four lenses model. Gibb’s reflective cycle can be particularly easy to use for beginners, however, if you are looking to take your engagement with reflective practice a step further, please check out Brookfield’s four lens model of reflection, which encourages educators to reflect on themselves not only from their own perspective, but from the perspective of their students, colleagues and educational scholarship too.

Overall, reflective practice plays a vital role in the professional growth of anatomy educators irrespective of their career stage. Hence, all anatomy educators are expected to engage in reflective practice and critical self-reflection throughout their academic journey. Perhaps a common misconception is that reflection is needed when ‘things go wrong’; however, reflection is equally important for examining positive outcomes. Anatomy departments must play an active role in promoting educators’ engagement with reflective practice by creating time, space, and structures that encourage reflection. At the same time, anatomy educators themselves must take personal responsibility to engage in reflection individually, ensuring it becomes a regular and intentional part of their own practice.

References

ASHE-­ ERIC Higher Education Report. What is a teaching portfolio? ASHE-­ ERIC Higher Education Report. 1995;24:9–17. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1002/ aehe. 36402 40805 64. Seldin P.

Buchan T, Todd J. Teaching Squares Peer Observation Program: Facilitation Guide. 2024. The Institute for Learning & Teaching, Colorado State University. Available from: https://colostate.pressbooks.pub/teachingsquares/chapter/what-are-teaching-squares/

Goodyear GE, Allchin D. Statements of teaching philosophy. To Improve Acad. 1998;17(1):103–22. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1002/j. 2334- 4822. 1998. tb003 45. x 47.

Schönwetter DJ, Sokal L, Friesen M, Taylor KL. Teaching philoso- phies reconsidered: a conceptual model for the development and evaluation of teaching philosophy statements. Int J Acad Dev. 2002;7(1):83–97. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 13601 44021 0156501

The teaching portfolio: a practical guide to improved per- formance and promotion/tenure decisions. 3rd ed. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing; 2004. 65. Washington University in St. Louis.

Teaching Portfolio—Center for Teaching and Learning. 2025. Available from: https:// ctl. wustl. edu/ resou rces/ teach ing- portf olio/

Congratulations to the Latest Recipients of Anatomical Society Funding

If you would like to know more about how the Anatomical Society Funds our members, please see our full prize and funding matrix here. This month we would like to congratulate and latest recipients of the society's funding awards and provide you with the reports of the successful endeavours of recent awardees.

The Barclay-Smith Travelling Fund Recipients

The Anatomical Society awards the Barclay-Smith Travelling Fund to AS members to support their attendance at the Anatomical Society Winter or Summer meetings. Below you can read the approved reports of recent awardees.

2025/26 Round 3

Ms Natalie Wucherer participated in FENS (Federation of European Neuroscientists) Forum 2026, Barcelona, Spain, 6th to 10th July 2026. REPORT

2025/26 Round 4

Mr William Antcliff participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026. REPORT

Dr Alannah Mortimer participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026. REPORT

Ms Maricci Basa participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026. REPORT

Mr Anas Sulaiman Alkharusi participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Ms Nessrin Almaghtuf participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Ms Emily Baxter participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Ms Lorna Brockbank participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Ms Sumar Chan participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Ms Emily Green participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026. Awarded but not taken up.

Ms Alix Hudson participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Dr Juliette Hughes participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Mr Ryan Lukin participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Dr Alannah Mortimer participated in the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting, University of Bristol, Bristol, 15th to 17th July 2026.

Ms Srishti Ramrakhiani participated in the Anatomical Society Winter Meeting, Trinity College, Dublin, 14th to 16th December 2026.

Anatomical Society Symington Bequest Travel Fund

The Trustees of the Symington Bequest Fund make grants to Society Members towards costs associated with the conduction and dissemination of anatomical research. Congratulations to our most recent awardees!

Round 4

Dr Shane Browne - to participate in the 22nd Congress of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA), ‘Anatomy for Everyone’, Melbourne, Australia, 13th to 16th August 2026.

Professor Kieran McDermott - to participate in the 22nd Congress of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA), ‘Anatomy for Everyone’, Melbourne, Australia, 13th to 16th August 2026.

Dr Ekrem Solmaz - to participate in the 17th International Symposium of Clinical and Applied Anatomy (ISCAA 2026), Vienne, Austria, 3rd to 6th September 2026.

Professor Adam Taylor - to participate in the 22nd Congress of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA), ‘Anatomy for Everyone’, Melbourne, Australia, 13th to 16th August 2026

Anatomical Society Public Engagement and Outreach Awards Reports

The Council of the Anatomical Society launched this initiative in June 2018 to support the public engagement and outreach activities of members of the Society in the field of Anatomy. Please read below the approved report of a recent awardee!

Year 2025/2026

Round 2

Awardee: Dr Ourania Varsou

Institution: University of Glasgow

Event dates: 3rd May 2026, 29th July 2026, 8th August 2026

Venue: Glasgow Riverside Museum, Glasgow

Activity Title: Breathing Like a Sci-Fi Villain: How Respirators Work with the Human Respiratory System – Developing a Sustainable Public Engagement Toolkit

REPORTS: 3rd May 2026, 29th July 2026, 8th August 2026

Anatomical Society Support for Student Societies

The Anatomical Society funds student societies to support them in a range of activities, including inviting a speaker and/or organising a seminar. Congratulations to our most recent awardee!

2025/26 Round 4

Awarded to: Ms Rishita Prabhu

Institution: University of Birmingham

Event Title and Date: International Surgical Anatomy Teaching Series (ISATS)

Location: Virtual MS Teams. A free 15-week series 30.09.26 to 27.01.27, Wednesdays 18:00 to 20:00

New Fellows of the Anatomical Society

Following the May 2026 Council, the Anatomical Society is happy to announce that the following individuals have received the Anatomical Society Fellowship! Many congratulations to our most recent AS fellows!

2025/26 Round 4 (elected by 30.06.26 Council)

• Professor Flora Groening

• Dr André Toulouse

Cave Young Investigator Poster Prize Award 2026

The Cave Young Investigator Poster Prize is awarded for the best poster presented by an attendee, normally of relatively junior status, at the society's Spring/Summer Meeting. Congratulations to our Cave Young Investigator Poster Prize winner Ms Louise Hosty!

2026 Award Cave Young Investigator Best Poster Award, Summer 2026, Bristol

Title: Development of a pro-angiogenic hyaluronic acid hydrogel decorated with vascular cell-derived ECM

Submitted by: Ms Louise Hosty, Royal college of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin

Photo: Ms Louise Hosty and the President of the Anatomical Society, Professor Abigail Tucker

Epilepsy Research Institute UK/AS Co-Funded PhD Award

The Council of the Anatomical Society and the Epilepsy Research Institute UK are delighted to share that the co-funded PhD (Epilepsy Research Institute UK/Anatomical Society) has been awarded to: Professor Chris Rodgers and Dr Thomas Cope at the University of Cambridge. Massive congratulations to the awardees!

In this co-funded studentship, improved ultra-high field MRI techniques will be developed. These enhanced imaging techniques aim to reveal tiny brain abnormalities responsible for epilepsy, helping more patients access curative surgery without invasive testing.

Grant Title: Improving ultra-high field MRI scans to clearly show tiny structural abnormalities that cause epileptic seizures and guide curative epilepsy surgery | Epilepsy Research Institute

Grant Type: Anatomical Society and Epilepsy Research Institute co-funded PhD Studentship grant

Start Date: 01.10.26 to 30.09.29

Grant Amount £110,000

Lead Investigator: Professor Chris Rodgers Co-investigators: Dr Thomas Cope Mr Archie Brown Student: Mr Archie Brown

Institution: University of Cambridge

Tribute to Professor Harold Ellis

The following tribute has been written by Professor D. Ceri Davies

In Memoriam, Professor Harold Ellis

Professor Harold Ellis died on 25th March 2026 in his 101st year. He was probably the most influential anatomy educator of the last 70 years and influenced literally tens if not hundreds of thousands of medical students and trainee surgeons throughout the world, as well as medical education policy.

Henry Ellis (later renamed Harold) was born in Stepney Green in the East End of London in 1926 to Jewish Emigres from what was Russia and is now Poland. His father was a barber and his mother ran a successful dress-making business although she never learnt to read or write. The youngest of four children, he won a scholarship to St Olave’s Grammar School Southwark, which was re-located to Torquay after the outbreak of the Second World War. He subsequently won a government scholarship to study medicine at the Queen’s College Oxford, where Wilfred Le Gros Clark was Dr Lee’s Professor of Anatomy and Solly Zuckerman was a lecturer in Anatomy. It is inconceivable that these great anatomists did not inspire and influence him.

Harold Ellis qualified as a doctor at the age of 22 years in July 1948, the same month that the National Health Service was established. He spent two years as a House Surgeon in Oxford and for his performance in the old Primary FRCS England examination he was awarded the Hallett prize for the best performance in the examination. I am not sure what the requirements for the prize were then, but the Hallett prize still exists and is awarded for the best performance in the year throughout the world in the MRCS England part A exam and the awardee must score over 90%, otherwise the prize is not awarded. In 1950 he was called up for National Service as a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, spending much of his time treating casualties with severe spinal and cranial injuries suffered in the Korean war.

After National Service Professor Ellis was appointed Resident Surgical Officer at Sheffield Royal infirmary and that is where he started teaching medical students on his firm. In 1955 he took up the post of Surgical Registrar at the Westminster Hospital and then spent four years as Senior Registrar and Surgical Tutor at the old Radcliffe infirmary in Oxford. He returned to the Westminster Hospital as Consultant Surgeon and Senior Lecturer and two years later in 1960 he was appointed Professor of Surgery in the University of London (at that time all academic appointments in London Medical Schools were University of London appointments). The Westminster Hospital Medical School did not have preclinical students, recruiting clinical students mainly from Oxbridge and other preclinical Schools, but of course he continued teaching clinical anatomy as part of his role albeit in theatre and clinics. The Westminster Hospital then in Horseferry Road, was involved in a number of major incidents in Central London. In 1974 Professor Ellis as lead surgeon at the Westminster operated on Princess Anne’s bodyguard to remove shrapnel and repair a perforated bowel after her attempted kidnap. He also treated casualties from the IRA bombings in Hyde Park and Regents Park in 1982 and the Libyan Embassy siege in 1984.

After Professor Ellis retired from surgery in 1989 he began a second career (officially this time) as Clinical Anatomist first at the University of Cambridge and then at Guy’s Hospital Medical School (now Kings College London), where he continued working until 2020 in his 95th year, when he was persuaded to stop taking the tube into central London because of the COVID pandemic. Throughout his second career he eschewed computers, Powerpoint presentations and the like because he considered them to be distractions from the material at hand. He preferred blackboard and chalk, because their effective use required simplicity and clarity and therefore a greater understanding of anatomy. Perhaps there is lesson for us all in that view.

Professor Ellis’ appointment as Clinical Anatomist was hardly his first foray into teaching anatomy. The first edition of his popular textbook (Clinical Anatomy) was published in 1960. It is now in its 14th Edition and has been continuously in print for 66 years. It has sold hundreds and thousands of copies in 190 countries throughout the world. At the last count Professor Ellis published 27 books and more than 400 papers reflecting his interest in clinical anatomy, education and medical history. He was still working at home until shortly before his death. He saw the print copy of the 5th Edition of Human Cross-Sectional Anatomy before it was published in April 2026 and although he will not see it in print, he finished working on the 15th revision of Clinical Anatomy shortly before his death. Although he would not have allowed it in his lifetime, his co-author of the 15th edition, Vishy Mahadevan, informed me that in future it will be entitled Ellis’ Clinical Anatomy. It is a sobering thought that Professor Ellis taught anatomy as a retirement career for longer than most people teach anatomy as their primary occupation, he leaves a considerable legacy.

Professor Ellis was elected Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1986 and also served in a similar role in the Royal Society of Medicine. In 1987 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for Services to Surgery. In 2011 he was awarded the Anatomical Society Prize and in 2013 awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Society in recognition of his services to Anatomy Education. 

Research Studentship

The Anatomical Society is delighted to announce the award of a new research studentship. This awards are the outcome of the Society’s annual studentship competition open to its members. Congratulations to our most recent awardees!

NEW AWARD SENIOR STUDENTSHIPS

Lead Supervisor: Professor Tanya T. Whitfield University: University of Sheffield

Co-Supervisor : Dr Emily S. Noël University: University of Sheffield

Student: Ms Georgia Tattersall University: University of Sheffield

Project Title: Post-embryonic development and anatomy of the zebrafish inner ear

Project Resume

Anatomical Society Research Studentships 2026/27

Call for Applications

Applications are currently being invited from prospective supervisors for Research Studentships to be held in departments of anatomical sciences in the UK and Ireland starting October 2027. The closing date for applications is 5pm Wednesday 19th August 2026.

For the eighth year, the Society is reserving a studentship for an early career investigator (ECI). An ECI is a person with a lectureship or independent research fellowship who is within 12 years of being awarded a PhD, exclusive of career breaks, who has guaranteed employment for the duration of the studentship and who has not held an AS PhD Studentship previously. The application will be judged according to different criteria than the regular studentship submissions with more emphasis on project design and training provided than on track record. The proposal will still have to meet the high standard expected. 

The advertisement, application forms, information and conditions can be found on the website:

http://www.anatsoc.org.uk/funding-and-awards/grants-and-prizes/anatomical-society-research-studentships

Alternatively, contact the Honorary Secretary, Professor Joanna Matthan, care of maryanne.piggott@kcl.ac.uk

Anatomical Society Workshop "Getting started with data in Anatomy Education Research"

This workshop has been organised by the Anatomical Society Education Committee

• The upcoming workshop will be delivered by Dr William Kay from the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University.

• The workshop will take place online on Tuesday 1st of September 2026.

• To sign up please scan the QR code shown above.

Upcoming Conferences

Institute of Anatomical Sciences 

Autumn 2026 Scientific Meeting

2nd-3rd of September  

The Institute of Anatomical Sciences Autumn 2026 Scientific Meeting will be held at the Human Anatomy Resource Centre (HARC) at the University of Liverpool between 2nd-3rd of September 2026. During the meeting a variety of subjects will be covered including perspectives from students who are just starting their careers as well as those who are well established. There will be various workshops including a 3D printing workshop, an embalming workshop and a HTA workshop. We will showcase technical achievements in science and academics talks in Veterinary science, Dentistry and Anatomy to name a few.

For more information on how to register and the meeting's programme please check out this document.

5th Early Career Anatomists Conference

The Early Career Anatomists group is hosting their annual hybrid conference from September 3rd to 4th 2026 at Kent and Medway Medical School, Kent, UK.

If you are interested in attending, please check out the information below: