Study Saturday: How to Succeed in Human Physiology

Human physiology is the prerequisite that most directly prepares you for DPT coursework. Understanding how the body maintains homeostasis across every organ system gives you the foundation for clinical reasoning in physical therapy. It is also one of the most challenging undergraduate courses you will take. Here is how to approach it strategically.

Why This Course Matters for PT School

Most DPT programs require a standalone human physiology course (not just combined A&P), typically 3 credit hours minimum. The content maps directly to what you will study at a deeper level in DPT school: neurophysiology, cardiovascular and pulmonary function, musculoskeletal mechanics, and renal physiology all reappear in your graduate curriculum. A strong foundation here means less catch-up later.

What You Will Cover

A typical one-semester human physiology course includes:

• Cell physiology: membrane transport, cell signaling, receptor types
• Nervous system: action potentials, synaptic transmission, autonomic nervous system
• Musculoskeletal: sliding filament theory, neuromuscular junction, motor unit recruitment
• Cardiovascular: cardiac cycle, ECG basics, hemodynamics, blood pressure regulation
• Respiratory: gas exchange, oxygen and CO2 transport, ventilation-perfusion matching
• Endocrine: hypothalamic-pituitary axis, thyroid, adrenal, and pancreatic hormones
• Renal: nephron function, glomerular filtration, fluid and electrolyte balance
• Gastrointestinal: motility, secretion, digestion, and absorption

The unifying theme across all systems is homeostasis: how the body detects changes and responds through feedback mechanisms to maintain internal stability.

Study Strategies That Work

Draw and redraw pathways. Physiology is built on mechanisms and cascades. Use colored pens to trace each step of a pathway (the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, the cardiac conduction pathway, the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve). Then redraw from memory to test yourself. Research on dual coding shows that combining text with self-generated visuals significantly improves retention.

Think of pathways as stories. Every physiological process has a beginning, middle, and end. Narrate the sequence out loud: "Blood enters the glomerulus under pressure, gets filtered, passes through the proximal tubule where sodium is reabsorbed..." Explaining the "plot" forces you to identify gaps in your understanding.

Use spaced repetition. Cramming does not work for physiology. The volume of interconnected concepts requires regular review over weeks. Anki is the gold standard for spaced repetition flashcards, and pre-made physiology decks are available on AnkiWeb. Brainscape offers confidence-based repetition with pre-made physiology content.

Connect anatomy to physiology. Keep an anatomy reference open alongside your physiology notes. Structure informs function. Understanding the physical layout of the nephron makes tubular reabsorption much easier to visualize.

Track recurring concepts across systems. Feedback loops, membrane transport, and receptor binding appear in every system. Keep a running list of these cross-cutting concepts and note how they manifest differently in each organ system.

Prepare before lecture. Read the assigned material before class and flag unfamiliar terms. This turns lecture into a reinforcement session rather than first exposure, which learning science research consistently shows improves comprehension and exam performance.

Free Resources

Video lectures:

• Khan Academy: Health and Medicine has over 700 videos covering every major organ system, organized by topic
• Ninja Nerd offers whiteboard-style physiology lectures with clear visual explanations (2.5M+ YouTube subscribers)
• CrashCourse: Anatomy and Physiology provides 47 short, animated episodes good for building initial familiarity with each system
• Armando Hasudungan uses hand-drawn visual explanations that are especially strong for cardiovascular and respiratory physiology

Free courses:

• Coursera: Introductory Human Physiology (Duke University) is a 34-hour course covering all major organ systems, free to audit

Free textbook:

• OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e is peer-reviewed, used at universities nationwide, and completely free under a Creative Commons license

Interactive tools:

• GetBodySmart has free interactive articles covering major body systems
• BioDigital Human offers a free tier for 3D anatomy exploration that connects structure to clinical conditions

Recommended Textbooks

The most commonly used undergraduate physiology textbooks for pre-PT students:

• Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach by Dee Unglaub Silverthorn (Pearson) is widely regarded as the best integrated, systems-based text for undergraduates
• Fox's Human Physiology by Stuart Fox and Krista Rompolski (McGraw-Hill) is popular for one-semester courses and particularly readable for allied health students
• Vander's Human Physiology by Widmaier, Raff, and Strang (McGraw-Hill) is a solid foundational text recommended on forums like Student Doctor Network
• BRS Physiology by Linda Costanzo is an excellent concise review companion for exam preparation

Apps Worth Using

• Anki for spaced repetition flashcards (free on desktop and Android, $24.99 on iOS)
• Visible Body for 3D physiology animations that show processes in motion (check if your university provides free access through the library)
• Kenhub for structured quizzes with spaced repetition built in

How This Connects to DPT School

In your DPT program, you will revisit cardiovascular physiology when studying exercise tolerance and cardiac rehabilitation. Neurophysiology becomes the basis for understanding motor control, pain science, and neurological rehabilitation. Respiratory physiology underlies your work with patients who have COPD, post-surgical breathing complications, or spinal cord injuries affecting ventilation. The stronger your undergraduate foundation, the more bandwidth you will have for clinical application in graduate school.

This is part of our Study Saturday series, where we break down how to succeed in each PT school prerequisite course. For an overview of all prerequisites, see understanding PT school prerequisites.