Learning physiology through service

A service-learning component has been successfully incorporated into an introductory physiology course at Wheaton College. In addition to regular course work, each of the 24 students spent 12 hours shadowing and assisting staff at Sturdy Memorial Hospital, Attleboro, MA, with 4 hours in the emergency room and 8 hours in two other departments. Every student kept a log of his or her observations, reactions, and learning in the field and wrote a paper on a pathophysiological condition encountered in the hospital. To compare and contrast the real hospital experience with a fictional one, the students also studied patients from the television show ER. Each week in lab, two students showed a short videotape of one particular patient and discussed the diagnosis, symptoms, treatments, and surgical procedures involved. Questionnaire evaluations indicated that this program is effective in helping students learn more physiology and exposing them to community service. Health workers and patients also agreed that providing social support to patients while shadowing and assisting hospital staff was a valuable service.