Integration of Physical Education and Human Anatomy for learning from the body in early medical training

Abstract

Introduction: Early medical training faces tensions between traditional approaches and active methodologies that integrate biomedical and humanistic knowledge. Fragmented teaching centered on memorization limits meaningful learning. This study assessed an interdisciplinary pedagogical strategy that articulates Physical Education with Human Anatomy in medical students.

Method: A pedagogical innovation study with a mixed-methods design of qualitative predominance, conducted during the 2024‑2025 academic year at the Nuevitas Medical Sciences Branch, Cuba. Thirty-two first- and second-year medical students participated. Documentary review, guided pedagogical observation, and the criteria of five specialists were applied. Qualitative data were processed through methodological triangulation; quantitative data, through absolute and relative frequencies.

Results: The documentary review revealed an absence of articulation between body movement and Anatomy. Guided pedagogical observation revealed majority participation and a progressive, functional understanding of anatomical structures and their physiological responses. Specialists rated the strategy as relevant, coherent, and feasible. The proposal was structured in three stages and five integrative activities, aligned with the contents of Human Ontogeny and the Osteomyoarticular System.

Discussion: The strategy allowed students to transition from a conception of the body as an object of study to one of the lived body as a subject of learning, thus challenging curricular fragmentation. The absence of an external observer constituted a limitation, partially compensated through triangulation and reflexivity. The study provides a humanistic dimension by exploring the meaning of bodily experience in the formation of medical identity.