Physiology education in China: the current situation and changes over the past 3 decades

• Published in: BMC medical education Vol. 24; no. 1; p. 408
• Main Authors: Wei, Xuhong, Xu, Ting, Guo, Ruixian, Tan, Zhi, Xin, Wenjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 12.04.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Anatomy & physiology; Case-based learning; China; Clinical medicine; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Colleges & universities; Curricula; Curriculum; Educational Change; Educational Personnel; Educational Status; Educational Strategies; Embryology; Enrollments; Health care; Humans; Independent study; Information professionals; Integrated curriculum; Laboratories; Learning; Lifelong Learning; Medical education; Medical schools; Pharmacology; Physiology; Physiology, Pathological; Preventive medicine; Problem-based learning; Questionnaires; Skills; Students; Study and teaching; Teachers; Teaching methods; Thinking Skills; China; Medical education; Problem-based learning; Case-based learning; Physiology; Integrated curriculum
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-024-05395-1

As an experimental biological science, physiology has been taught as an integral component of medical curricula for a long time in China. The teaching effectiveness of physiology courses will directly affect students' learning of other medical disciplines. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current situation and changes in physiology teaching over 30 years in Chinese medical schools. National survey was conducted online on the platform SoJump via WeChat and the web. The head of the physiology department in medical school was asked to indicate the information of physiology education from three periods: 1991-2000, 2001-2010, and 2011-2020. The responses of 80 leaders of the Department of Physiology from mainland Chinese medical schools were included in the study for analysis. The survey showed that the class hours, both of theory and practice, had been decreased. During the past 20 years, the total number of physiology teachers, the number of physiology teachers who had been educated in medical schools, and the number of technicians had been reduced, whereas teachers with doctor's degrees had been increased. In addition to traditional didactic teaching, new teaching approaches, including problem-based learning/case-based learning/team-based learning, integrated curriculum and formative evaluation systems, had been employed, mostly for more than 5 years, in some medical schools. The present study has provided historical data regarding the current status of physiology education in China and that in the past thirty years by showing that physiology education in China has developed quickly,even it faces many challenges.