Perspectives of veterinary medical students on veterinary anatomical terms in relation to those of humans

As with humans, veterinary anatomical terminology is valuable for studying veterinary anatomical structures. Anatomical education programs closely resemble veterinary and human medical education. This study aimed to enhance the comprehension of veterinary anatomy in relation to those of humans by categorizing the differences between the veterinary and human anatomical terms and the opinions of the students who have already completed a veterinary anatomical class. The terminologies compared were categorized into (1) terms listed exclusively on veterinary anatomy, (2) different terms on homologous structures, and (3) the same term with different meanings. Survey analysis was also performed among the veterinary anatomy class students to validate the need to comprehend terminological differences. For the survey analysis, students at the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Chungbuk National University, Korea, were divided into first- and fourth-grade groups. The questionnaires on the need to comprehend the differences between veterinary and human anatomical terms and the preferred language of veterinary anatomical terms between Korean and English revealed meaningful differences between the groups. The opinions of the veterinary medical students on the survey suggested that understanding the differences in the anatomical terms was more beneficial to clinical applications than learning basic veterinary anatomy in relation to those of humans. Nevertheless, more data on the differences between veterinary and human anatomical terms are needed.