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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Ren Fail. 2016 Oct 19;38(10):1683–1693. doi: 10.1080/0886022X.2016.1230459

Table 3.

Opportunities to Innovate Kidney Physiology Education

  • Implement an introductory session; describe how kidney physiology functions in human health and disease.

  • Provide “The Big Picture” before and after each session.

  • Use class time to interview a patient with kidney disease; describe abnormal physiology in layman terms. Infuse sessions with the attributes and procedures unique to the field of nephrology (longitudinal specialty care, inpatient/outpatient, dialysis modalities, and kidney transplantation.)

  • Provide the foundational basic science content in many formats simultaneously (live sessions, text resources, video resources).

  • Create course videos according to published best practices30

    • Organize into information into short chunks (6–9 minutes each)

    • Tablet drawing tutorials are more engaging than slideshows

    • Speak fairly fast, with high enthusiasm

    • Informal videos with a personal feel are more or equally engaging as high-fidelity studio productions.

  • De-emphasize the live lecture for foundational basic science content since many students prefer a customized learning pace.

  • Use classroom sessions for clinical applications and problem solving.

  • Have clinicians lead live sessions, make frequent clinical correlations, and heavily utilize visual methods in teaching presentations.