From the dissection table into medicine, therapy, and research

Anatomy is the structural study of the human body — organ systems, tissues, and the cellular components beneath them — taught with embryology, neuroanatomy, endocrinology, and applied work on aging and disease. The CIP definition centers on regional and gross anatomy paired with cell biology and histology, which in practice translates into cadaver-lab or prosection sequences layered on top of a standard pre-med biology and chemistry core. Coursework typically moves from microscopic anatomy in the early years into regional dissection and clinically framed case work by the senior year.

This major fits students who already think they’re heading to medical, dental, PT, OT, PA, or chiropractic school and want a structurally focused undergraduate runway rather than a generalist biology track. Comfort with three-dimensional spatial reasoning matters, and so does tolerance for memorization — gross anatomy rewards detailed recall in a way few other sciences do. Strong organic chemistry and physiology performance signals readiness for the graduate health programs that most graduates target next.

The scale of this major reflects how administratively narrow it is. Only 681 students earn the bachelor’s anatomy CIP each year across 6 institutions, with the University of California-San Diego accounting for roughly 600 of those completions. Career data reinforces the pre-professional pattern: three of the five tracked careers — medical scientist at $100,590, health specialties teachers at $105,620, and biological science teachers at $83,460 — list a doctoral or professional degree as the typical credential, while the bachelor’s-only routes anchor closer to lab-technician and research-assistant wages.