A major crisis in the NHS could unfold in the future if something is not done about the lack of anatomy training in medical schools. The Royal College of Surgeons is concerned about the lack of candidates with suitable knowledge. They attribute this to poor anatomical training in medical schools – something that has put off some students from pursuing a surgical career.

Vishy Mahadevan, a professor of surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “Whereas anatomy was once rightly regarded as essential and of crucial importance to the study of medicine, the time allocated to its study in the present day is substantially and worryingly less than in the past.”

This lack of importance is attributed to fewer resources being available to teach anatomical dissection. Ed Fitzgerald, former president of the Association of Surgeons in Training, said: “The cost of having the license, of the facilities, maintaining the labs, and the cadavers themselves, is an expensive option for medical schools.”