Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
  • 2 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
  • 3 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • 4 Centre for Education, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Physiology, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
  • 6 Department of Physiology, Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India
  • 7 Office of Medical Education, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
  • 8 Institute for Translational Research in Biomedicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Adv Physiol Educ, 2020 Dec 01;44(4):709-721.
PMID: 33125254 DOI: 10.1152/advan.00128.2020

Abstract

Active learning promotes the capacity of problem solving and decision making among learners. Teachers who apply instructional processes toward active participation of learners help their students develop higher order thinking skills. Due to the recent paradigm shift toward adopting competency-based curricula in the education of healthcare professionals in India, there is an emergent need for physiology instructors to be trained in active-learning methodologies and to acquire abilities to promote these curriculum changes. To address these issues, a series of International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) workshops on physiology education techniques in four apex centers in India was organized in November 2018 and November 2019. The "hands-on" workshops presented the methodologies of case-based learning, problem-based learning, and flipped classroom; the participants were teachers of basic sciences and human and veterinary medicine. The workshop series facilitated capacity building and creation of a national network of physiology instructors interested in promoting active-learning techniques. The workshops were followed by a brainstorming meeting held to assess the outcomes. The aim of this report is to provide a model for implementing a coordinated series of workshops to support national curriculum change and to identify the organizational elements essential for conducting an effective Physiology Education workshop. The essential elements include a highly motivated core organizing team, constant dialogue between core organizing and local organizing committees, a sufficient time frame for planning and execution of the event, and opportunities to engage students at host institutions in workshop activities.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.