Generalists as Clinical Physiologists: Bringing Science Back to the Bedside.

Background: Few generalists engage in basic science research or feel comfortable teaching physiology at the bedside. This may reflect a lack of understanding or confidence teaching physiologic principles.

Aim: To inspire general internists to relearn and teach physiology in clinical practice.

Setting: An active biomedical research laboratory.

Participants: We educated 67 faculty participants (4 primary care, 59 hospitalists, and 4 other specialties) from 24 medical centers, representing 17 states.

Program Description: The 5-day course was structured around re-learning basic physiology principles and developing teaching skills. Participants engaged in hands-on experiments through 4 modules using aquatic species, each paired with a physiology content primer. Participants also developed teaching scripts based on their experiments.

Program Evaluation: Post-course surveys revealed that 97% felt confident teaching physiology at the bedside, 100% felt the course enhanced their understanding of the mechanisms of disease, and there was a significant improvement in self-reported teaching ability.

Discussion: An immersive, hands-on faculty development course that integrated physiology with clinical decision-making increased participants' comfort level and self-rated ability to teach and incorporate physiology in their clinical work. We believe faculty development is one potential solution to the growing chasm between clinicians and scientists in general medicine.