Teaching physiology to the extreme: learning through human outliers

There are many ways to deliver physiology education as an interdisciplinary subject, yet a lot of them can be dry or considered boring by students because of the subject matter. Several years ago, the idea was introduced of teaching physiology based on superheroes. Learning physiology in the context of these mythical people with superpowers is much more stimulating. However, it lacks a translational component because humans are not faster than a speeding bullet or stronger than a locomotive. We have taken this same basic concept and applied it to the extremes or outliers of human physiology. What is unique or special about the physiology of individuals like Lionel Messi? Michael Jordan? Usain Bolt? We give examples of two research reviews that we examine in a graduate course on physiology and also provide a framework for how the content is discussed in the classroom.<b>NEW & NOTEWORTHY</b> We discuss a novel way of delivering physiology education based loosely on the previous discussion of superhero physiology. Rather than using examples that are not realistic, we use examples of human outliers.