Who will teach physiology? The growing shortage of physiology generalists
<b>NEW & NOTEWORTHY</b> Physiology is foundational to medicine, yet the workforce of broadly trained physiology generalists is shrinking. As funding priorities favor molecular specialization, fewer graduate programs provide rigorous systems-level training for future educators. The result is a growing national shortage of qualified instructors across colleges, universities, and medical schools-paralleling earlier contractions in anatomy education. This editorial calls for coordinated action to rebuild integrative physiology training pathways and restore balance between discovery and education, safeguarding health professions training and public trust.
Authors
- Erica A. Wehrwein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5197-2147)
Institutions
- Michigan State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- AJP Advances in Physiology Education
- Published
- 2026-02-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00321.2025
- Primary Topic
- Educational Leadership and Innovation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00