The Anatomy Department was established in 1979 on the main campus in Minden, Penang. It was based in Penang until 1988, when the medical school was moved to the Health Campus in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. The department is under Pusat Pengajian Sains Perubatan (School of Medical Sciences). 

As a department, our participation in teaching encompasses many different courses: medical and dental undergraduates; postgraduate programs,  which include the Master of Clinical Anatomy; and the different specialties of the surgical-based Master of Medicine and Neurosurgery. 

The department started its Masters program in Clinical Anatomy in 2003. It is a two-year full-time course that consists of four semesters and is offered as a mixed-mode program. The first year is the coursework, and the second year is the research year. The students in the Master of Clinical Anatomy also make clinical visits to various departments in the nearby Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia as part of the course and to help illustrate the clinical relevance of the subject. 

The department was the first in the Southeast Asian region to produce plastinated specimens after a training experience in Germany and conducted a plastination workshop in 1996.

The department also organized the First Malaysian Conference in Anatomical Sciences in October 2002. 

The Department hosts an Anatomy Museum for teaching and learning activities, a dissection room facility with prosected specimens and a histology research laboratory equipped with multipurpose microscopes, multi-viewer microscope and an image analyser for research and teaching purposes.

Various specimens such as jar specimens, plastinated specimens are on display in the Anatomy Museum together with plastic models and fixed learning materials that can be used for teaching and learning activities. The Anatomy Museum is open to the public upon request and has been visited by schoolchildren, higher learning centers, and various organizations within the country and overseas to provide opportunities for learning experiences.

The Department of Anatomy carries out research in various anatomy fields such as histology, neuroscience, tissue engineering, anthropometry, clinical anatomy and anatomy education.