Prof. Dr. Humaira Naushaba
Head, Department of Anatomy
Dhaka Medical College

Human anatomy is the scientific study of the body structures. The word ‘anatomy’ comes from a Greek root that means ‘to cut apart’. It is subdivided into Gross anatomy, Microscopic anatomy or Histology, Developmental anatomy, Neuro-anatomy, Genetics and Radiological anatomy.

Dhaka Medical College started its glorious journey on July 10, 1946. At the beginning the college had no Anatomy Department and students had their classes in Mitford Medical School. After a month Professor Pashupati Basu of Anatomy joined the staff and the classes began in Ward no.22 of the hospital. There was no dissection hall at that time. The college building was completed in 1956 and shifted and thus Anatomy Department got its full form thereafter.

The Department of Anatomy is one of the basic science departments of Dhaka Medical College. Under the leadership of Professor and Head of the Department, a team of enthusiastic and devoted teachers are teaching the undergraduate and postgraduate students in different disciplines. The member staff of the Department are as follows:

Faculty Members (Total 23)
Professor -1, Associate Professor-2
Assistant Professor-2, Curator-1, Lecturer-16, Medical Officer-1, Office Staff (Total 13)
Clerk-1, Laboratory Assistant-1, Taxidermist-2, MLSS-8,Cleaner-1.

Undergraduate Course
In undergraduate course every year 220 students are enrolled in the 1st year MBBS, according to the national merit list and their choice. Foreign students of different countries are also enrolled under foreign students’ quota. The Department of Anatomy deals with the course of Anatomy and Histology for 1st and 2nd year students with a duration of 1½ years, in 3 terms and 3 formative evaluations followed by 1st Professional MBBS Examination. They perform 115 hours lecture classes, 53 hours tutorial classes, 52 hours practical classes and 310 hours dissection classes and card examinations for the course. For practical and tutorial classes the students are divided into different batches with 18 students in each batch. In the Gross Anatomy practical classes, the students are used to dissect human body under the supervision of a lecturer to study the human anatomy.

For convenience, the human body is divided into six regions known as card: a) Thorax, b) Superior Extremity, c) Abdomen, d) Inferior Extremity, e) Head and Neck, and f) Central Nervous System and Eye Ball. Every region is divided into smaller part known as item. A student must complete the dissection of a part followed by oral and practical examination in a specified time period. After completion of all the items, card final examination is held. Tutorial classes are also taken by the teachers to provide more information about the dissected parts and related radiological anatomy. In the histology practical classes, the students study the microscopic structures of different organs of the body and they appear in histology card completion examination. After successful completion of the two cards in gross anatomy and associated histology cards, with 75% attendance in lecture and practical classes, a student will be eligible to appear in the respective term final examination. After the successful completion of the three terms a student will become eligible for appearing in the 1st professional MBBS Examination.
The teachers of the Department maintain a good relationship with the students. The students can discuss any of their problems in studying anatomy at any time with any of the teachers. Even the teachers maintain relationship with the parents or guardians of the students and inform them from time to time about the progress of the study of theirs keens.

Postgraduate Course
M.Phil. (Anatomy): Since 2002, the Department conducts M.Phil. (Anatomy) course. Every year 10 students are enrolled in this course according to a merit list. Along with their schedule classes these students also work as co-teacher in tutorial classes of undergraduate and postgraduate students of different disciplines. Departmental seminars are organized once in a month regularly arranged by M.Phil. students. They also take part in the CME programmes of the college arranged twice in a month with participation of basic and clinical departments. Till now 70 students had been awarded M.Phil. degree from the University of Dhaka and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. About 30 students in different parts of M.Phil. (Anatomy) are continuing their postgraduate course in the Department. Students of different residency programmes are also placed in the Department.

Museum
The Department of Anatomy of Dhaka Medical College has an enriched museum to help the students to increase their knowledge of anatomy. There is a rich collection of different organs, dissected parts of the body, dissected body showing vascular pattern, fetuses with different congenital anomalies, charts of different systems of the body as well as models of different organs of the body. The students can study in the museum with the help of this aid at any time during the working period of the college.

Histology Laboratory
The Department has a full-fledged Histology Laboratory where the undergraduate students and postgraduate M.Phil. students do their practical classes. In M.Phil. 1st part, the students perform chick embryo practical and 2nd part students have to make histological slides of different organs of the body. The students of the thesis part do their practical works in this laboratory.

Body Donation
Body donation or body legacy is the donation of a whole body after death for research and education. Many famous persons of the nation donated their bodies for the betterment of the medical education. This program is still running with love and respect. Donated bodies are used for gross anatomy, surgical anatomy and for betterment of medical education.

Department of Anatomy is devoted to build up a group of physicians in the society, who will serve the country or any part of the world successfully as well as who will cite examples of humanity anywhere they will work. These physicians will serve the country at any of its crisis period.

Profile of Prof. Dr. Humaira Naushaba

Professor Dr. Humaira Naushaba was born in a highly respectable Muslim family in 1961 on 16th July. Her father’s name is Abdul Matin Khan and mother’s name is Rowshan Ara Khan. Dr. Humaira hails from Barishal district but she was born and brought up in Dhaka.

Professor Humaira passed her SSC examination in 1977 from Viqarun Nissa Noon School, Dhaka. She completed her HSC in 1979 from Holy Cross College and finally got admission in Dhaka Medical College. She passed her final MBBS in September 1985. She obtained her M.Phil. degree in Anatomy in July 1996 from the then IPGM&R. From then she is working as a teacher at the Department of Anatomy of DMC&H.

Professor Humaira Naushaba has been promoted to the post of Professor of Anatomy in the year 2007. She has been working as teacher and examiner in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses. She is also a researcher and acts as a guide to the Postgraduate Anatomy students. She has several publications as author and co-author in our country.
She is involved with government’s different important planning and decision making process in the medical education sector of Bangladesh.