It gives me great pleasure to pen down the Foreword to the 16th edition of Cunningham’s Manual of Practical Anatomy. Just as the curriculum of anatomy is incomplete without dissection, so also learning by dissection is incomplete without a manual. Cunningham’s Manual of Practical Anatomy is one of the oldest dissectors, the first edition of which was published as early as 1893. Since then, the manual has been an inseparable companion to students during dissection. I remember my days as a first MBBS student, the only dissector known in those days was Cunningham’s manual. The manual helped me to dissect scientifically, step by step, explore the body, see all structures as mentioned, and admire God’s highest creation—the human body—so perfectly. As a postgraduate student I marvelled at the manual and learnt details of structures, in a way as if I had my teacher with me telling me what to do next. The clearly defined steps of dissection, and the comprehensive revision tables at the end, helped me personally to develop a liking for dissection and the subject of anatomy. Today, as a Professor and Head of Anatomy, teaching anatomy for more than 30 years, I find Cunningham’s manual extremely useful to all the students dissecting and learning anatomy. With the explosion of knowledge and ongoing curricular changes, the manual has been revised at frequent intervals. The 16th edition is more student friendly. The language is simplified, so that the book can be comprehended by one and all. The objectives are well defined. The clinical application notes at the end of each chapter are an academic feast to the learners. The lucidly enumerated steps of dissection make a student explore various structures, the layout, and relations and compare them with the simplified labelled illustrations in the manual. This helps in sequential dissection in a scientific way and for knowledge retention. The text also includes multiple-choice questions for selfassessment and holistic comprehension. Keeping the concept of ‘Adult Learning Principles’ in mind, i.e. adults learn when they ‘DO’, and with a global movement towards ‘Competency - based Curriculum’, students learn anatomy when they dissect; Cunningham’s manual will help students to dissect on their own, at their own speed and time, and become competent doctors, who can cater to the needs of the society in a much better way. I recommend this invaluable manual to all the learners who want to master the subject of anatomy.

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