Issues in teaching vascular anatomy: Thoughts and Suggestions from the Clinician’s Point of View

The role of anatomy in modern curricula is under reform due to competency of other rapidly evolving subjects and the rapid evolution of several practical aspects and applications dictating modernization of teaching methods as well as of teaching demands. Moreover, modern practice of medicine has put the arterial and vascular system in the center of numerous minimally invasive techniques. Therefore, regardless of their specialty, most doctors should have a very clear and precise knowledge of the vascular anatomy and the basic access techniques from the early years. This viewpoint commentary reflects the experience of the two authors in applying the principles and content of surgical vascular anatomy in undergraduate anatomy teaching and discusses the rationale of this. Moreover, it is suggested that cadaveric dissections should be modified with emphasis on standard surgical vascular exposures and the multidisciplinary teaching of vascular anatomy as a means not only to gain optimal long-term knowledge retention, but also to emphasize through realistic examples on the practical clinical value of vascular anatomy.