Medical Physiology from First Principles: A First-Year Survival and Mastery Pathway
A systems-by-systems journey through human physiology built for the incoming medical student who wants understanding, not memorisation. Each unit moves from core mechanisms to integrated clinical reasoning, with deliberate practice in the kinds of questions med school exams actually ask. Roughly 5 hours per week over about 8 months.
Foundations: How to Think Like a Physiologist
Establish the conceptual toolkit — homeostasis, gradients, flow equations and feedback — that every later system reuses.
Unit Test: Foundations — How to Think Like a Physiologist
8 questions · pass at 75%
Excitable Tissues: Nerve and Muscle
Understand how cells generate and use electrical signals, the substrate for the nervous, cardiac and muscular systems.
Unit Test: Excitable Tissues — Nerve and Muscle
8 questions · pass at 75%
Cardiovascular Physiology
Build the heart and circulation from single-cell electrophysiology up to whole-body haemodynamic regulation.
Unit Test: Cardiovascular Physiology
8 questions · pass at 75%
Respiratory Physiology
Follow oxygen and carbon dioxide from atmosphere to mitochondria and back, with the mechanics and control that make it work.
Unit Test: Respiratory Physiology
10 questions · pass at 75%
Renal Physiology and Acid-Base Balance
Master the kidney as the body's regulator of volume, electrolytes and pH — the unit most students find hardest.
Unit Test: Renal Physiology and Acid-Base Balance
8 questions · pass at 75%
Gastrointestinal and Metabolic Physiology
Examine how food is moved, digested, absorbed and processed to fuel the body.
Unit Test: Gastrointestinal and Metabolic Physiology
8 questions · pass at 75%
Endocrine and Reproductive Physiology
Learn the hormonal axes that coordinate growth, metabolism, stress and reproduction.
Unit Test: Endocrine and Reproductive Physiology
8 questions · pass at 75%
Neurophysiology and Whole-Body Integration
Bring the nervous system and all prior systems together into integrated physiological reasoning.
Unit Test: Neurophysiology and Whole-Body Integration
8 questions · pass at 75%
Final Exam: Medical Physiology from First Principles
Final Exam: Medical Physiology from First Principles
17 questions · pass at 75%