It’s no secret to many of us that our anatomical imagery is less than representative, whether that be in the case of skin tone or body types. Those who are a part of the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) community have been found to experience healthcare disparities because our healthcare professionals do not receive competent education regarding LGBTQIA+ care (Gibson et al, 2020). This highlights the importance of adequate representation in our curriculum so that we can be educated on the issues that those in the LGBTQIA+ community might face, for example, rates of sucidality and poor mental health are higher than in the general population (Gibson et al, 2020 2,3). Furthermore, medical students who have more experience clinically with the LGBTQIA+ community provide their LGBTQIA+ patients with better quality care than those who have less experience (Gibson et al, 2020 8). By representing queen bodies in our anatomical curriculum, we can help to overcome any intrinsic bias that may be instilled in our students early on. When we normalise different body types, we demedicalise them to our students - we should not only be learning about queer bodies in a sense of something that is ‘different’ to the norm, rather than as something that is a part of the norm (Eckhert, 2016). By presenting things in surface anatomy, we are establishing what ‘normal’ is - it is anatomical education that has the power to do this (Ku, n.d).
Anatomy textbooks show the ‘standard’ bodies: lithe, muscular, slim, lacking disability and often overrepresenting light skin tones (Louie and Wilkes, 2018). There is little variety in body shape and type. Our population is constantly diversifying, but it doesn’t seem as though our educational resources are keeping up with the change. Here at Anatome we aim to change this - creating inclusive resources that more accurately represent the population which our future doctors will be treating. A study of medical students found that only 15% of students have received any LGBTQ+ specific training (Arthur et al, 2021). Anatomical education can go part of the way to providing students with this integral knowledge by introducing it early on in the curriculum. This also gives students the opportunity to learn about the LGBTQ+ community before they are exposed to the hidden curriculum during their time on placement.
Overall, it seems that we do not have adequate representation of LGBTQ+ bodies in our anatomy (or medical) teaching. It is only through inclusivity and diversity that we can properly prepare our next generation of doctors to treat their patients to the highest degree possible.
References:
Arthur, S., Jamieson, A., Cross, H.,Nambiar K., Llewellyn, C. (2021) ‘Medical students’ awareness of health issues, attitudes, and confidence about caring for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients: a cross-sectional survey’, BMC Medical Education, 21(56).
Dilley J., Simmons K., Boysun M., Pizacani B., Stark M. (2010) ‘Demonstrating the importance and feasibility of including sexual orientation in public health surveys: health disparities in the Pacific Northwest’, American Journal of Public Health.
Eckhert, E. (2016) ‘A Case for the Demedicalization of Queer Bodies’, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine’, 89(2), pp. 239-246.
Gibson, A., Gobillot, T., Heinen, C. (2020) ‘A Novel Curriculum for Medical Student Training in LGBTQ Healthcare: A Regional Pathway Experience’, Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 7.
Gibson A., Radix A., Maingi S., Patel S. (2017) ‘Cancer care in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer populations’, Future Oncology, 13, pp.1333-1344.
Ku, K. (n.d) ‘Queering Anatomy – Microbial Migration and Ambiguous Body Borders’, Lab4Living, available at: https://lab4living.org.uk/projects/phd-studentship-queering-anatomy/ (Acessed 09 July 2023)
Obedin-Maliver J., Goldsmith E., Stewart L.(2011) ‘Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-related content in undergraduate medical education’, JAMA, 306, pp.971-977.
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