Dr Marcela Bezdickova,
Associate Professor in Anatomy, Swansea University, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science, Current anatomy-related stream: Teaching
I have been fascinated by nature since childhood and consequently I studied Biology and Physical Education at Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic. I undertook a PhD at the same institution with focus on Functional Anatomy and Physiology. I gained my first teaching experience during my PhD as a demonstrator in practical sessions on Functional Anatomy. It was my “trigger point” as I thoroughly enjoy exploring human anatomy and teaching. After completing my PhD, I was appointed as Anatomy Lecturer at Palacky University Olomouc. I have started lecturing gross anatomy to the medical and dentistry students and my experience grew when I was appointed as a leader of international programme in General Medicine and Dentistry and as a coordinator of Erasmus students exchange program for medical students. This was additional experience on Medical Education and Anatomy teaching worldwide. As a lead of Partnership network of Clinical Anatomy and Emergency I completed Plastination workshop delivered by Biodur Company which attracted me more into the dissection and detailed anatomy of cadavers.
In 2015 I took up a position at the Swansea University as a Lecturer in Anatomy and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2020. Currently, I participate on teaching in various programmes - Graduate Entry Medicine Programme, Physician Associate and other undergraduate master programs. I am a module lead for Anatomy of BSc Applied Medical Science Programme and a supervisor of final year educational research projects of undergraduate and graduate students.
I am passionate about Anatomy and I popularize it during public events organised by Swansea University such as the Family fun day, Summer School, Webinars Series. I organize Dissection CPD course or collaborate with Swansea City FC physiotherapists. I believe that invaluable student experience in Anatomy is in ‘learning by doing’. Therefore, I have established extremely popular Extracurricular Dissection Courses for medical students twice per academic year since 2015. In 2020 I was nominated for the BMJ/BMA Award Clinical Teacher of the year 2020 for Wales and that encouraged me to continue working hard.
I have been teaching Anatomy for more than 20 years at a various level and in different Higher Education systems. HE in UK was different and challenging for me and I have learnt that to update knowledge in Anatomy subject is as important as finding new ways of engaging students. There is always something more to learn.
