A Successful Physics Course Within a Traditional Medical Program

Abstract

The problem of teaching physics to students in the early years of a traditional medical course, while not well covered in the recent literature, is a difficult one. Here we describe one medical school’s attempts over a period of more than ten years to do so successfully. The final, successful, attempt is explained in some detail. In the process of investigation it was found that there is a minimal correlation between students’ avowed level of interest in a subject and their perceptions of its difficulty (about -0.4), but a strong correlation between their perceptions of a subject’s relevance to clinical studies and their avowed interest in die subject (about 0.95). Anecdotal evidence and comments written on evaluation questionnaires suggest that this correlation may well reflect a causal chain, a conclusion of considerable importance for course designers.