Examining the impact of the core principles of physiology with prelicensure BSN and BSES students: a qualitative analysis

This article will 1 ) initially outline first-year nursing and undergraduate exercise sciences student perspectives on examinations of the 2011 Michael-McFarland (M-M2011) core principles in physiology through an anonymous online survey, and 2 ) model an updated approach based on these qualitative findings. Briefly, for the first perspective ( i of iii ), 93.70% of the 127 respondents answered whether “homeostasis” was important to understanding healthcare topics or diseases introduced in the course agreed; this matches the M-M2011 rankings. A close second was “interdependence” at 93.65% (of 126 responses). However, in this regard “cell membrane” was identified as least important (which is in contrast with the 2011 M-M rankings, as “cell membrane” tied as the no. 1 ranked core principle) with only 66.93% (of 127 responses) agreeing. The next perspective ( ii ; in preparation for physiology topics on licensure exams), “interdependence” topped the list with 91.13% (of 124 respondents) agreeing to its importance. For the second ( ii ) perspective, “structure/function” had 87.10% (of 124 respondents) in agreement, with “homeostasis” in a near tie (86.40% of 125 responses). Again, “cell membrane” was the least with only 52.38% (of 126 student responses) agreeing. For the third perspective ( iii ; careers in healthcare), again “cell membrane” trailed at 51.20% (of 125 responses) agreeing to its importance, with “interdependence” (88.80% of 125 responses), with “structure/function” (87.20% of 125 responses) and “homeostasis” (86.40% of 125 responses) topping the list of important concepts (principles) needed for careers in healthcare. Finally, the author presents a “Top Ten” List of Core Principles of Human Physiology for Undergraduate Health Professions students, based on the survey.