Physiology in PA Didactic Year

[Kaatje]

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Hello,

How important would you say is physiology in the didactic year of my PA education? Currently I am taking Physiology by an instructor who is not a physiologist and I ended up buying extra materials by The Teaching Company (luckily a fantastic 8 DVD set on A&P with a lot of pathophysiology, presented by a surgeon and medical professor).
I am worried that the simplified talk will not prepare me well enough for the clinical year. During my undergraduate every instructor was a PhD, and I enjoyed Molecular Biology and Cell Biology. Even at the community college I attended before that, the A&P, Microbiology and Organic Chemistry courses were taught solely by PhD's.
I think that the nature of medicine is changing, and we may need a strong physiological background in year one to deal with all those changes (gene-therapy, advanced medical technologies, new medications etc). Unfortunately there is also not enough time to teach in-depth physiology on my own, I've thought about that solution. I would appreciate some feedback from people who are further along in their PA education. Thanks.

 

[primadonna22274]

Hi Kaatje (great name btw),
You will have Phys at your PA program, usually in the first semester. It's incredibly important! The DVD study set you got sounds pretty promising and certainly couldn't hurt. Don't sweat it too much, just learn all you can and then some.
You also might take Genetics and Biochem if you can squeeze it in. I found these tremendously helpful since we don't get those in PA school.
Lisa PA-C

Hello,

How important would you say is physiology in the didactic year of my PA education? Currently I am taking Physiology by an instructor who is not a physiologist and I ended up buying extra materials by The Teaching Company (luckily a fantastic 8 DVD set on A&P with a lot of pathophysiology, presented by a surgeon and medical professor).
I am worried that the simplified talk will not prepare me well enough for the clinical year. During my undergraduate every instructor was a PhD, and I enjoyed Molecular Biology and Cell Biology. Even at the community college I attended before that, the A&P, Microbiology and Organic Chemistry courses were taught solely by PhD's.
I think that the nature of medicine is changing, and we may need a strong physiological background in year one to deal with all those changes (gene-therapy, advanced medical technologies, new medications etc). Unfortunately there is also not enough time to teach in-depth physiology on my own, I've thought about that solution. I would appreciate some feedback from people who are further along in their PA education. Thanks.

 

[Kaatje]

Thanks for the feedback, but I should clarify my situation. I am currently enrolled in a PA program and I am about halfway through the didactic portion of my studies. The problem is that our anatomy and physiology professor is not an anatomist, physiologist or medical professional. As a result, the content of the physiology class is, at best, taught at an elementary level (on par with, and I'm not being glib, the book "Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies") and, at worst, outdated and/or flat-out wrong. How, then, will this affect me in my clinical rotations and later on in my medical career? Part of me believes that I will learn what's really important in clinicals, and that all the "book learning" we get in the classroom, good or bad, won't make much difference. But deep down, I fear that without a solid grounding in theory, I won't be able to even get up to speed in practice. I'm not looking for reassurance, just some honest opinions about what I'm likely to encounter.

Thanks again!

Hi Kaatje (great name btw),
You will have Phys at your PA program, usually in the first semester. It's incredibly important! The DVD study set you got sounds pretty promising and certainly couldn't hurt. Don't sweat it too much, just learn all you can and then some.
You also might take Genetics and Biochem if you can squeeze it in. I found these tremendously helpful since we don't get those in PA school.
Lisa PA-C

 

[lawguil]

Thanks for the feedback, but I should clarify my situation. I am currently enrolled in a PA program and I am about halfway through the didactic portion of my studies. The problem is that our anatomy and physiology professor is not an anatomist, physiologist or medical professional. As a result, the content of the physiology class is, at best, taught at an elementary level (on par with, and I'm not being glib, the book "Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies") and, at worst, outdated and/or flat-out wrong. How, then, will this affect me in my clinical rotations and later on in my medical career? Part of me believes that I will learn what's really important in clinicals, and that all the "book learning" we get in the classroom, good or bad, won't make much difference. But deep down, I fear that without a solid grounding in theory, I won't be able to even get up to speed in practice. I'm not looking for reassurance, just some honest opinions about what I'm likely to encounter.

Thanks again!

Personally, I would go to your academic dean and request an explanation and stipend/refund for the course. No course at the college/university should be taught by somebody that is unqualified. I'm sure you're paying GOOD money to be in the program. I'm don't believe this situation is covered by the "academic freedom" of a college/university. Pursue it, you will be respected if you do!

 

[primadonna22274]

OHHHHH....that's a different matter entirely.
Yikes.
IMHO, A&P should only be taught by anatomists & physiologists, or otherwise qualified people who are highly skilled and know the answers cold without having to consult the book. My phys course was taught by a former RN turned PT with a Ph.D. in Physiology. He was truly excellent and we were well schooled.
Get the NMS Physiology text or some such review book. It's great, cheap, highly readable and definitely got me through phys. And do talk to the dean.
Lisa PA-C
p.s. I probably don't dare ask...this isn't one of the newer PA programs, is it?

Personally, I would go to your academic dean and request an explanation and stipend/refund for the course. No course at the college/university should be taught by somebody that is unqualified. I'm sure you're paying GOOD money to be in the program. I'm don't believe this situation is covered by the "academic freedom" of a college/university. Pursue it, you will be respected if you do!

 

[niko327]

Hey kaatje, sorry to hear about your physio class. In retrospect I have to confess that physio was probably the most important of the basic science classes I took in PA school. My instructor was a Ph.D. Physiologist with serious credentials. The class was very demanding but he was an outstanding teacher. So I guess the answer to your question is: yes be concerned, be very concerned, a good knowledge of physiology is essential, you will be relying on your knowledge of physiology even when you aren't neccessarily aware of it. My best advice to you is to dump the physio for dummies text, get a real physio text and follow along the class lectures while you read that section in your text that evening. Also try and find a complete set of lecture hand-outs from another PA or med school program with a good physio component. The only lecture hand-outs that I saved and still refer to on a daily basis are my physio and biochem materials, as I've literally found them indispensible.

 

[melcal]

Since you are currently in PA school and I'm sure time is a huge factor for you, try using a physiology review book, such as the ones used for MD/DO school boards. i have the Board Review Series: Physiology, 3rd edition by Linda S. Costanzo. you can look at it here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...103-2439042-4034264?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

 

[chicoborja]

Thanks for the feedback, but I should clarify my situation. I am currently enrolled in a PA program and I am about halfway through the didactic portion of my studies. The problem is that our anatomy and physiology professor is not an anatomist, physiologist or medical professional. As a result, the content of the physiology class is, at best, taught at an elementary level (on par with, and I'm not being glib, the book "Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies") and, at worst, outdated and/or flat-out wrong. How, then, will this affect me in my clinical rotations and later on in my medical career? Part of me believes that I will learn what's really important in clinicals, and that all the "book learning" we get in the classroom, good or bad, won't make much difference. But deep down, I fear that without a solid grounding in theory, I won't be able to even get up to speed in practice. I'm not looking for reassurance, just some honest opinions about what I'm likely to encounter.

Thanks again!

Surely, your teacher has somewhat of a related background (maybe master's in biology?). Have you found out what your physiology professor's background is? Is he a tenured faculty member, adjunct instructor, etc.? I know this doesnt help much in the class but i always like to figure things like that out and understand what position they are in. If they are not tenured, you may be able to petition to have him not return the following year. It may not help you but it will help the next class that follows.

 

[Kaatje]

Thanks for all the terrific feedback and book recommendations!!!! I am using the Review of Medical Physiology by Ganong, the 22nd Lange edition, and 8 DVD's by Dr. Goodman (a surgeon and medical professor) through the Teaching Company. My teacher has a degree in Physical Education, and teaches both anatomy and physiology at my school. He is in charge of the basic science curriculum for the didactic year and also teaches research and the master's project class. He says he used to teach anatomy to physical therapy students at a medical school on the East Coast. My school is not receptive to adding a physiologist, I've tried to talk with the administration and the program director. I have no complaints about the clinical classes, they are well taught as far as HEENT's, PE's and writing SOAP notes and such. Clinical Lab Medicine was taught by a PhD, and Pharm by a graduate of the same program (she is also a Pharmacist). Hey, we may not know much about signal transduction, G-protein coupling, action potential, the Na+/K+ pump or epidemiology, but we have three consecutive classes of Ethics and get to do a book report on Albert Camus' The Plague to prepare us for treating about 3500 patients a year! To respond to Lisa: yes, it is a very new school.