This Department endeavours to train students to undertake a variety of careers, ranging from those in the scientific arena to those that may have little to do with anatomy or even medical science at all.

Directly relevant careers include:

Technical Work in Medical Laboratories

As students are provided with training in the technical aspects of areas like cell biology and histology, they are well equipped to work in a wide range of medical, health department and applied biological science laboratories. The training they receive is especially helpful for work in research laboratories, since they are also introduced to research methods and research questions.

Tertiary Education - Teaching

An increasing number of tertiary institutions now require staff who can teach anatomy, from gross anatomy to histology and cell biology. These include polytechnics as well as universities, in departments like physiotherapy, nursing, biomedical sciences, radiography, and speech therapy, as well as anatomy and physiology. With a degree in Anatomy and further teacher training, you could have a career in teaching.

Tertiary Education - Research

Our graduates are also well suited to undertake both laboratory-based and library-based research work in university departments and other research institutions. The topics covered in a degree in Anatomy are very diverse, ranging from gross anatomy of the human body, to cell biology, biological anthropology of prehistoric peoples and to the ethics underlying medical science. This diversity enables students to contribute to research in a wide variety of areas, and provides them with a range of different perspectives.

By way of example of the range of options open to graduates within the laboratory/research arena: a recent BSc graduate is working as a Junior Specialist in Development Neurobiology in the Department of Anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco; another student is a Junior Research Fellow in the Maori Health Research Unit in Wellington; and a number of graduates currently have research positions in this Department.

Students also gain skills in studying a BSc in Anatomy that can be incorporated into careers beyond those that appear to be directly relevant. Graduates are provided with the opportunity to acquire any or all of the following skills:

• ability to analyse and critique received wisdom
• to synthesize information and apply it to solve problems
• ability to locate, evaluate and use information in a range of context
• computer technology skills
• organisation and time management skills
• oral and written communication skills

These skills are invaluable in any career and can provide students with an excellent starting point.

By way of example of the range of options open to graduates outside the technical/research areas: the Personal Assistant to our Head of Department recently completed a PhD in the Department, another student has gone on to become a director of internet services for a firm in Wellington, one student is employed as a sales representative for a pharmaceuticals company, and another is a sales representative for a medical supplies firm.

The possibilities are quite extensive for students who complete a BSc in Anatomy and have the determination to achieve. You are really only limited by your ability to 'think outside the box'.

It needs to be stressed that study beyond the undergraduate BSc level strengthens and broadens the skills that can be acquired at undergraduate level.