Active methodologies in human physiology teaching: experience report in the medicine course

Abstract

The medical curriculum traditionally has divisions such as the basic cycle and the clinical cycle, in which the first includes subjects and areas of knowledge that serve to guide and subsidize the clinical reasoning built in the second. Among the subjects of the basic cycle, Human Physiology is included, responsible for studying the physiological processes that determine the state of balance in the organism. However, not infrequently, it is noted that some obstacles hinder the study of physiology: high workload, complexity of subjects, and interest of students. In this sense, this study aims to present an experience report on the importance of monitoring in the discipline of physiology as an opportunity for active methodologies. During the monitoring, the organic systems studied were worked on in the form of clinical cases, which required reasoning, study, and participation from the students. At the end of the semester, an online questionnaire was constructed to obtain students' opinions about the impact of monitoring on their learning. As a result, based on the assessment made by the students, monitoring exerted a positive influence on the process of studying physiology, since students were able to practice what was learned in class, bringing the subject closer to medical practice.