A Novel Approach to Teaching Clinical Physiology

Posted on: 07 December 2005

Linking physiology to clinical practice has always presented a challenge to students and to teachers.  For one thing, physiology has traditionally been taught by body system, which makes it difficult for students to appreciate the way in which multiple systems interact in real life.  For another, the standard textbooks either concentrate on basic physiology or focus on clinical presentation and treatment, obscuring the necessary continuum between the two approaches. 

A new textbook of clinical physiology has been written with the specific objectives of addressing these concerns.  Case-Based Medical Physiology, written by Trinity Professor of Physiology, Christopher Bell,  together with two colleagues in Aberdeen and in Melbourne, is intended for students in both ‘problem-solving’ and more traditional curricula.  It presents a series of cases typical of situations met fairly often in clinical practice.  Each case analyses the physiological basis for diagnosis and treatment, and is accompanied by USMLE-style multiple choice questions, together with feedback and suggestions for further reading.

Case-Based Medical Physiology, by Bell, Kidd and Morgan, was released by the Oxford-based publisher Blackwell, in September 2005.