Has the Public’s Knowledge of Anatomy Been Hamstrung? A Questionnaire-Based Exploration of Basic Anatomical Awareness Within the General Population. Todd FS1, Whiting JR1, Taylor A2, Smith CF1 1Department of Medical Education, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), Brighton, United Kingdom 2Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre, Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster, United Kingdom Introduction Despite a recent resurgence in public interest for anatomical sciences,1 little research exists to determine the extent of their knowledge. We aimed to assess this through a questionnaire-based localisation of anatomical structures. Our findings suggest a significant gender discrepancy, as well as the presence of prevalent anatomical misconceptions which, to our best knowledge, have not been documented in the literature. These results have implications for the content and targeting of future public and clinical teaching. Methodology Recruitment: Questionnaires were distributed to attendees of a public talk delivered by BSMS Anatomy faculty as part of the September 2017 British Science Festival. Questionnaire: Developed at Lancaster Medical School, and asked participants to identify the location of 22 anatomical structures on a blank human outline (Figure 1). Demographics: 45 questionnaires were returned, of which 37 had complete demographic information. The age range was 18 to 86. Of the 45 questionnaires returned, 37 had complete demographic information (24 females and 13 males). Questionnaires with incomplete information were omitted from gender analysis, but included in the misconception analysis. Results Gender Differences Females consistently outperformed males in 18/22 anatomical structures tested. Only the prostate, rectum, cornea and kidneys were answered better by males. Large gender differences in scores were seen for several of the structures, as highlighted in figure 2. Notably, only the prostate exhibited a large gender discrepancy in favour of males. Interestingly, no males were able to correctly identify the location of the gallbladder. Figure 3 compares the remaining structures. The mean female score was 14.0, whereas the mean male score was 11.7. Anatomical Misconceptions Two consistent mistakes were highlighted amongst participants during analysis. These were: 1) The “calves” were mistakenly labelled as the “hamstrings”. 2) The adrenal glands were incorrectly identified as being located in the head or neck. The first misconception was seen on 31.1% of respondent’s questionnaires (14/45), whilst the second was seen in 20% (9/45). This includes two participants who had both misconceptions on their answer sheet. In total, 46.7% of participants (21/45) had at least one of the above anatomical misconceptions. Discussion and Conclusions Literature The mean scores for both males and females closely reflect that of prior studies by Kljakovic et al.2 (Females: 52.0%, Males: 50.0%, n=1156) and Weinman et al.3 (Females: 50.9%, Males: 45.4%, n= 722), however neither differences reached significance. Whilst the larger gender difference seen in our results may be attributed to a small sample size or baseline knowledge biases introduced by sampling attendees of a public anatomy talk, Weinman et al.3 corroborates our findings in that females outperformed males in 10/11 structures tested. The detailing of public anatomical misconceptions has, to the best of our knowledge, not been documented in the literature. Implications Miscommunication is a major source of poor outcomes in general practice5 and a significant discrepancy exists between doctor and patient interpretations of medical terms, including anatomical language.6 This study highlights the need for doctors to be aware that misconceptions are prevalent and answers such as “glands in the neck” or “hamstrings” should be clarified in the history. An awareness of the public’s lack of ability to localise organs, particularly in males, may further improve patient satisfaction and outcome