Medical physiology for medical schools
AbstractThe analysis of physiology teaching in Russian medical schools leads to the conclusion that it does not meet the requirements of physician education. One of the leading causes is some vagueness of this field definition, a loss of a clear understanding as to what kind of physiology is essential for today physicians. As a result, there is no much difference between a physiology course taught in medical schools and biological faculties, and medical students have to perform (now mainly virtually) hundreds-years old experiments on frogs, study many issues essential to future research workers, but not practical physicians, renowned but having today only historical significance concepts. More so, current curriculums rely much on mere knowledge rather than on the ability to operate with it, which constitute the daily physician activity in diagnosis and treatment. As an alternative the paradigm of medical physiology, quite de facto common in Western universities, is proposed. According to it, the main goal of teaching physiology to medical students is mastering of main standard concepts of medical physiology, that is of the ability to operate freely with basic notions on organism functioning, accepted and used by the global medical community. Principles of such curriculums elaboration are discussed, and some specific examples are given.
Keywords:physiology, teaching, medical education
Medical Education and Professional Development. 2018; (2): 124–137. doi: 10.24411/2220-8453-2018-12008.