Ten years of basic medical physiology in the Mercer problem-based curriculum

In our curriculum, students learn basic medical physiology and pathophysiology during a 74-week integrated multidisciplinary program. This problem-based program consists of two phases aimed at student acclimation to the educational approach and to coverage of fundamental information, followed by 10 phases devoted to in-depth coverage of the organ systems. Physiological principles are given major emphasis during these latter 10 phases. In this approach, students meet in small groups, identify basic science learning issues (including physiology) from written biomedical cases, research the issues, and discuss these issues in relation to each case. These groups (6-7 students plus a tutor) meet for 3-hour sessions three times each week during each phase. Students receive cases, along with study guides designed to assist in selecting appropriate information sources for each phase. Each student is evaluated on group process skills, oral presentation and defense of a case analysis, and a multiple-choice exam. Internal and external [National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Part I] evaluations for the Classes of 1987-1993 indicate that our problem-based approach results in student learning of medical physiology.