Clinical relevance in the teaching of biomedical sciences within health care courses presupposes that there is internationally agreed core material within the curricula. However, with the exception of a syllabus for neuroanatomy and gross anatomy of the head and neck for medical students, core syllabuses within many of the specialized anatomical sciences have yet to be developed. The International Federation of Associations of Anatomists aims to formulate internationally accepted core syllabuses for all anatomical sciences disciplines initially using Delphi Panels that comprise anatomists, scientists, and clinicians who evaluate syllabus content. Here, the suggestions of a Delphi Panel for embryology and teratology are presented prior to their publication on the website of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists. Hence, to obtain a more definitive syllabus, it is required that anatomical and embryological/teratological societies, as well as individual anatomists, embryologists and clinicians, freely comment upon, elaborate and amend, this draft syllabus. The goal is to set internationally recognized standards and thereby provide guidelines concerning embryological and teratological knowledge when involved with course development. Clin. Anat. 30:159-167, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Many studies have been undertaken to assess the attitudes of medical students to the clinical importance of gross anatomy. However, much less is known about their attitudes toward the clinical importance of histology. Using Thurstone and Chave methods to assess attitudes, over 2,000 early stage medical students across Europe provided responses to a survey that tested the hypothesis that the students have a high regard for histology's clinical relevance. Regardless of the university and country surveyed, and of the teaching methods employed for histology, our findings were not consistent with our hypotheses, students providing a more moderate assessment of histology's importance compared to gross anatomy but more positive than their attitudes toward embryology. Histology should play a significant role in medical education in terms of appreciating not just normal structure and function but also pathology. We conclude that teachers of histology should pay special attention to informing newly-recruited medical students of the significant role played by histology in attaining clinical competence and in underpinning their status as being learned members of a healthcare profession. This work was conducted under the auspices of the Trans-European Pedagogic Research Group (TEPARG). Clin. Anat. 30:635-643, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Although there have been many studies reporting the attitudes of medical students to the clinical importance of gross anatomy, little is known about their opinions concerning the clinical importance of embryology. Using Thurstone and Chave methods to assess attitudes, nearly 1,600 medical students across Europe in the early stages of their training provided responses to a survey that tested the hypothesis that they do not regard embryology as highly clinically relevant. Indeed, we further proposed that student attitudes to gross anatomy are much more positive than those toward embryology. Our findings show that our hypotheses hold, regardless of the university and country surveyed and regardless of the teaching methods employed for embryology. Clearly, embryology has a significant part to play in medical education in terms of understanding prenatal life, of appreciating how the organization of the mature human body has developed, and of providing essential information for general medical practice, obstetrics and pediatrics, and teratology. However, while newly recruited medical students understand the importance of gross anatomy in the development of professional competence, understanding the importance of embryology requires teachers, medical educationalists, and devisors of medical curricula to pay special attention to informing students of the significant role played by embryology in attaining clinical competence and achieving the knowledge and understanding of the biomedical sciences that underpins becoming a learned member of a health care profession.

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Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the teratogenic effects of Valproic Acid (VPA) and to investigate the role of apoptosis in neural tissue development. Although an apoptotic activity due to VPA has been reported, a direct connection of VPA-induced apoptosis with embryonic brain and/or spine malformations and teratogenesis has not yet been established. Materials and Methods : VPA was administered to BALB/c mice, from the 7 th to the 10 th gestational days. Macroscopical congenital anomalies were registered under a stereomicroscope and were further histologically studied. Immunohistochemistry was performed with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Results : Birth defects were described and an increase of the apoptotic activity in the brain was immunohistochemically identified. Conclusions : Considering the increased and very intense TUNEL expression of the neural cells of treated animals’ fetuses, it is suggested that VPA triggers a pathological increase of apoptosis resulting in an imbalance between cell proliferation and cell death, the final result of which is malformation.