[Design of a course in physiology for medical training]

This article describes a course in general physiology and neurophysiology being offered at the School of Medicine of the Catholic University in Chile since 1971. The course was designed to provide the student skills in the planning, performance, and analysis of experimental problems. An account is given of the changes made in the course in response to annual evaluations over seven years. The procedures for grading student progress in developing critical judgment, handling information, and solving problems are analyzed. The authors are of the view that a course of this kind helps improve the ability to judge problems beyond the course curriculum. The describe the advantage of such courses for the training of physicians and recommend that activities that could be continued throughout medical training be designed and evaluated to stimulate the development of the students' critical faculties.