Benefits behind barriers in physiology education

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced academics to switch to online teaching whether they were prepared or not. The speed and enthusiasm with which educators embraced online teaching suggest that challenges change the perspective for the better. The teaching challenges with the current coronavirus situation mimic the poliovirus attack Dr. Arthur C. Guyton encountered. Dr. Guyton was forced to switch his career from becoming a cardiovascular surgeon to a physiology educator and a researcher. His immense contributions to the field of physiology is an example of how challenges can bring benefits. Flipped teaching has been gaining attention among educators because of its ability to engage students in learning. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed educators to adopt this instructional design based on its conduciveness to technology, as well as its blend of both asynchronous and synchronous components of online teaching. Just like Dr. Guyton’s enormous impact on medical education and research in spite of the challenges he faced, we must be creative during this pandemic through innovative teaching methods, which will serve as a gift for the future of physiology education.