Microscopy Techniques for Biomedical Education and Healthcare Practice

Leonard Shapiro

Leonard is a visual artist affiliated with the Department of Human Biology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has a keen interest in Anatomy Education and has developed a number of art-based exercises to address and improve students' three-dimensional (3D) spatial awareness and observation ability. His courses and workshops are in collaboration with lecturers who are actively engaged in improving education methodology in anatomy. These are offered to medical students and lecturers in South Africa and abroad. Leonard has developed a multi-sensory observation method that crucially employs the sense of touch (haptics) coupled with the simultaneous act of drawing. It is called the haptico-visual observation and drawing (HVOD) method. In anatomy education, the benefits of using the HVOD method include the enhanced observation of the 3D form of anatomical parts, the cognitive memorization of anatomical parts as a 3D mental picture, improved spatial orientation within the volume of anatomy, and an ability to draw. Leonard has taught the HVOD method at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), Newcastle University (England), the University of British Columbia (Canada), Carnegie Mellon University (USA), the Gordon Museum of Pathology at King's College London (England), University College Cork (Ireland), and Weill Cornell Medical College (USA). Leonard contributes to the anatomy education discourse by presenting at anatomy conferences as well as via publications and articles. Leonard graduated in BSocSci and in BA Fine Art (Hons) from the University of Cape Town.