Major anatomy textbooks and digital platforms used to train healthcare professionals overwhelmingly feature white skin tones and male bodies, creating systemic biases that could perpetuate racial health disparities, according to research published in Annals of Anatomy.
Researchers analyzed nearly 2,000 illustrations from four leading anatomy textbooks including Grant’s, Netter’s, Gray’s, and Sobotta. They found that over 95 percent of images depicted light skin tones, while 86 percent showed male bodies. This Eurocentric, male-centric representation fails to prepare medical students for treating diverse patient populations.
The study also examined more than 10,000 scientific articles dating back to 1800, revealing troubling trends in racial representation. Mentions of African and Black populations in anatomical literature plummeted from nearly 33 percent to under 11 percent over time, while Asian population mentions surged from 15 percent to nearly 47 percent. Female-only studies remained chronically underrepresented at less than 26 percent.
Digital anatomy platforms showed similar problems. More than 83 percent defaulted to light skin tones, and most lacked options for users to adjust skin tone representations. This technological limitation compounds educational gaps for future physicians who need exposure to anatomical variations across different racial and ethnic groups.
These representational biases undermine clinical preparedness and health equity by training generations of healthcare providers primarily on bodies that don’t reflect global human diversity. Researchers concluded that urgent systemic reforms are imperative, including redesigning curricular resources, enhancing technological customization, and implementing educator bias training to align anatomical education with the diverse patients physicians will ultimately serve.
See: “Systemic Representational Biases in Anatomical Education: A Multi-Modal Content Analysis of Racial, Sex, and Skin Tone Diversity Across Literature, Textbooks, and Digital Platforms” (February 4, 2026)
