Anatomy education at central Europe medical schools: a qualitative analysis of educators’ pedagogical knowledge, methods, practices, and challenges

Globally, there has been a growing demand for a unified education standard, spurred by sustainability initiatives such as the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and the increasing internationalisation of higher education. The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) promote accreditation process for international medical education institutions that provide curricula in English. However, some Central European Medical Schools offering such curricula are not fully aligned with WFME accreditation standards. Organisers of human anatomy courses at these schools are seeking to improve their skills and abilities to deliver high-quality teaching effectively in multicultural and multilingual environments. A survey conducted by the Erasmus + Strategic Partnership project LEANbody, which aims to reach for quality management tools to teach human anatomy effectively in a multicultural and multilingual learning space, revealed that over 70% (49/69) of anatomists in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Croatia are unfamiliar with international quality standards for medical education and the concept of student-centred pedagogy. This study seeks to understand educators’ perceptions of pedagogical knowledge and concepts/frameworks, such as constructive alignment (CA), Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs), in relation to student-centred pedagogy and their anatomy teaching practices. The study also investigates perceived gaps at the institutional, departmental, and individual levels concerning anatomy teaching and the pedagogical practices that should be promoted. A descriptive cross-sectional study using a qualitative approach was used for this purpose. In 2022, face-to-face or online interviews were conducted with 14 anatomy educators including course organisers from Zagreb, Masaryk and Pécs Universities. We found that most educators had not received formal teacher training on teaching methods prior to starting anatomy teaching and were unfamiliar with such pedagogical frameworks as CA, even though they were familiar with the concept of ILOs. Thematic analysis was applied to open-ended questions and the umbrella theme that emerged was “Transforming Anatomy Teaching and Learning in the Glocal Classroom: Navigating the Intersections of Pedagogical Practice, Constructive Alignment, and Student-Centred frameworks”. Two themes and 5 subthemes were identified from the data. The study presents recommendations and a novel framework linking student-centred approaches, CA, and global educational sustainability agendas, such as the sustainable development goal 4 target 7 (SDG4.7) to enhance the quality of anatomy teaching.