Elevating qualitative research in health professions and sciences education

Anatomy is a discipline that emphasizes close examination, not only of the body but also of the person. This spirit of inquiry is central not only to anatomy education but also to health professions education more broadly. For generations, educators across medicine, nursing, physical therapy, and related fields have mapped structures, traced pathways, memorized layers, and taught students to navigate the terrain of the human form with confidence. Yet some of the most important questions in health professions education cannot be reduced to structures or sequences. They live instead in experiences, meanings, stories, identities, uncertainties, and the inner worlds our learners carry with them into the lab, the classroom, and out into clinical practice. Addressing these profound questions requires different tools—tools that qualitative inquiry provides, allowing us to explore the complexities of professional formation, ethical development, and the human dimensions of care that are foundational to preparing future health professionals. At Anatomical Sciences Education, we have been taking deliberate steps to support and elevate the rigor of that inquiry. Over the past several years, our editorial team has refined expectations for qualitative submissions by clarifying methodological standards, encouraging transparency in analytic approaches, and inviting authors to articulate the philosophical and epistemological commitments that guide their choices. We have updated reviewer guidance, expanded our roster of qualitative-method experts, and emphasized the importance of methodological fit over methodological fashion. These efforts reflect a simple conviction: when conducted with care, coherence, and clarity, qualitative research offers insights every bit as foundational to anatomical education as experimental studies or psychometric evaluations. The journey toward this special issue grew directly from that work. It represents both a response to the rising sophistication of qualitative scholarship in our community and an intentional investment in shaping its future. It is within this renewed commitment to qualitative rigor in our field that we are excited to feature this month's special issue, Qualitative Research in Health Professions and Sciences Education, guest-edited by Dr. Georgina Stephens and Dr. Michelle Lazarus, both of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Stephens, a medical doctor by training and Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Human Anatomy Education at Monash University, is known for her qualitative work on ethics, uncertainty, and donor dissection—work that has informed innovations such as a donor-centered ethics training documentary now embedded in her institution's curriculum. Dr. Lazarus, Professor and Director of the Monash Centre for Human Anatomy Education, is an award-winning educator whose research on uncertainty tolerance and professional identity has influenced anatomy curricula worldwide. A cell biologist turned interpretivist, she leads interdisciplinary teams, mentors emerging scholars, and produces educational resources such as the AskAnatomist podcast. Together, their combined expertise and vision embody the thoughtful, human-centered scholarship that high-quality qualitative research brings to our field. Qualitative analysis, in their hands and in those of the contributors to this issue, is not soft science. It is exacting work—coding and recoding; tracing patterns, tensions, and contradictions; attending carefully to language, reflection, and experience; and wrestling with the complexity that arises whenever human meaning-making is the object of study. As our field grapples with shifting modalities, changing learner needs, expanding digital environments, and renewed attention to the ethics of donor programs, qualitative methods offer a way to listen deeply and respond thoughtfully. Our journal has a rich history of publishing such work. These investigations pushed us beyond the question of what students learn and toward the far more revealing question of how they learn, who they are becoming, and what meanings they construct along the way. This special issue builds on that foundation while widening the lens. It introduces new methodological approaches, new contexts, new voices, and new lines of inquiry that further expand the role of qualitative research within our discipline. Drs. Stephens and Lazarus have curated a collection that demonstrates just how powerful qualitative methods can be for improving health professions and sciences education. Some papers dig deeply into the textures of student experience; others foreground methodological innovation, showing not only what qualitative analysis can reveal but also how to conduct such work transparently and rigorously. These contributions remind us that our field thrives when it honors the complexity and humanity of its learners. What stands out most in this issue is a shared respect for nuance. The authors do not search for easy answers or impose tidy narratives. Instead, they invite dialogue with students, with colleagues, with the discipline, and with the uncertainties that inevitably shape learning. In doing so, they model the intellectual curiosity and reflective practice that define qualitative research at its finest. The tools and best practices for qualitative research set forth in this special issue have the potential to help anatomical sciences educational scholarship evolve into a disciplined field of inquiry into the nuances of human behavior in teaching and learning spaces. As you read the work assembled here, you will encounter anatomy not only as a body of knowledge, but as a human landscape. This special issue illuminates that landscape with clarity, care, and curiosity. It invites us to slow down, to ask more thoughtful questions, and to see our learners—and our own teaching—with renewed depth. We are grateful to Dr. Stephens and Dr. Lazarus for their vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment to elevating qualitative scholarship in anatomical sciences education. Jason M. Organ: Writing – original draft; writing – review and editing; conceptualization. Jonathan J. Wisco: Writing – original draft; writing – review and editing; conceptualization.