Beyond the University Borders through the Museum of Anatomy
Authors: Rocha Andrea Oxley , Maués João Lins , Lamel Kauany , Ziliotto Marieli , Chies Gabriel 
Published: June 2021

Museums are cultural institutions that allow connections between scientific knowledge and society, creating an informal teaching space. With this idea the Museum of Anatomy of the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA) was created in 2008, an annual and temporary exhibition. The goal is to share knowledge with the community and demystify the use of bodies for teaching anatomy The Museum became, in these years of existence, a tool to reach the external community and, thus, to promote university outreach. Therefore, the objective of this work is to evaluate the impact by the museum of anatomy in the visiting public.

In all of the event editions, the total audience was estimated through the book of signatures or attendance lists provided by visiting schools. In addition, satisfaction questionnaires were available for the public to evaluate their perceptions regarding the exposition, as well as the educational impacts promoted by the visit.

The Museum of Anatomy of UFCSPA displays the anatomical specimens prepared by students during the Dissection Workshop using the bodies donated through the Body Donation Program. In 2018, a total audience of 9.264 visitors in were received during the 10 days of exhibition, of which 5.635 represent students from public schools. When compared with the first year of the event in 2008, which received 170 visits, a significant increase can be noted. Around eighty undergraduate students worked as volunteer guides to visitors. A total of 3210 visitors responded to the satisfaction survey, and of these 73% had between 10 and 20 years of age. Concerning what attracted the most attention, 33% of visitors reported that were the prosections and bodies, followed by 22% referring to videolaparoscopy simulator using corpse. Besides that, 75% felt encouraged to apply for the university; 93.3% said they had learned something new about health and 88% reported that they had knowledge that will help in the school. In addition, when it comes to the perception of visitors, among the respondents of the satisfaction survey, 96% classified the infrastructure as very good/good and 94% would recommend the Museum to someone.

More than a university project, the Museum of Anatomy presents itself as a tool to promote a social impact. The constant evolution of the event allied with the positive results from satisfaction surveys suggest that improving quality and quantity of the exhibit can lead to increase the number of visitors from the community and stimulate their curiosity about human anatomy. Therefore, the Museum of Anatomy has the effect of demystify the use of the human body for teaching and sharing knowledge, especially with public school students. For undergraduate, the exhibition contributes to their academic training by enhancing their teaching skills and capacity for teamwork, as well as expanding their knowledge of anatomy.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.