The 2019 P-MIG Student Survey report and capturing the undergraduate perspective of physiology programming

Abstract

The aim of the 2019 Student Survey was to inform the Physiology Majors Interest Group (P-MIG) of characteristics of undergraduates enrolled in physiology courses or degree programs from across the United States, to be used as one input source for the development of program-level guidelines. There were 1,389 participants from seven universities who completed the 2019 P-MIG Student Survey. Thirty-seven percent reported enrollment in a physiology/human physiology major; allied health-related programs were the second most common (24%). Sixty-one percent of respondents reported attending a community college, the majority of whom enrolled in one or more courses at a community college while in high school (44%). Of participants who reported transferring coursework from one institution to another, 72% reported coursework transferred as expected. Homeostasis and structure/function were the two core concepts common to the top rankings for self-reported mastery, the expectation to be remembered in 5 yr, and deemed to be career relevant. Survey respondents indicated high engagement in co-curricular activities, with 72% participating or planning to participate in job shadowing opportunities, followed by volunteering (57%) and internships (50%). Over one-half of all survey participants indicated they “strongly agree” that their coursework and undergraduate programming has prepared them for success in their field of study. While the majority of respondents were satisfied with the academic advising received, additional guidance with regard to career choices and non-coursework professional development opportunities may be beneficial. Taken together, the collective data provides information from current physiology students that may inform development of consensus guidelines regarding curriculum, professional skills, and advising for undergraduate physiology degree programs.

Start with the end in mind: using student career aspirations and employment data to inform curriculum design for physiology undergraduate degree programs

“…Unpublished internal data from Michigan State University and the University of Arizona consistently show similar trends, with 90% of physiology students aspiring to a career in the healthcare field with 60% interested in medicine. Student survey data from physiology programs in the U.S. shows that the top three career options are medicine, physician assistant, and physical therapy (17). Students may lack awareness of other lesser known healthcare careers or of other life science career options, such as graduate school in physiology, biology education, industry, and the like.…”

Where do we go from here: a forward-thinking vision for physiology undergraduate education

“…To address this, P-MIG has spent several years locating institutions with physiology and physiology-related degree programs, collecting data about the characteristics and course requirements (for details about institutions and degree programs, see Refs. 16,18). As shown in this special collection, programs vary from a series of physiology courses within a general major, such as Biological Sciences, to well-defined physiology-specific majors.…”

“…Although understanding core concepts is central to a physiology program, for future employment, students need to develop professional skills, such as the ability to communicate effectively. In addition, most students who take physiology courses intend to enter a healthcare profession (16). Many of those students aspire to become doctors, but the number of students applying to medical school far exceeds the number of available spots (19).…”

“…Students may not be aware of the tremendous growth in other healthcare careers (e.g., physician's assistants, occupational therapists); thus they also require knowledgeable advisors and clear way to access help (19). To address this, P-MIG members conducted surveys and workshops to build a consensus list of professional skills that all physiology majors should have acquired on graduation (9), how different institutions approach student advising (5), and student perceptions of their education (16).…”

“…It is an independent consortium that welcomes anyone interested in physiology education at the level of the undergraduate degree in physiology and physiology-related fields. As demonstrated by this special collection of papers of Advances in Physiology Education, P-MIG has already made substantial progress in three areas: 1) developing curricular guidelines based on core concepts in physiology (8,10,13,17,18,21); 2) developing guidelines for professional skills for our students and surveying advising practices (7,9,19); and 3) using survey data to learn about physiology educators and physiology (3,16,22).…”