Development of the Professional Skills Physiology Curriculum Mapping Tool (PS-MAP)

During the course of undergraduate studies, physiology (and related STEM Majors) should acquire both a broad and in-depth foundation in physiological knowledge along with a distinct range of transferable (professional) skills (e.g., critical thinking, communication skills, data analysis). Previously, through a consultative and iterative process with physiology educators, the Professional Skills Committee of the Physiology Majors Interest Group (PMIG) defined and refined a consensus list of these professional skills that physiology majors should have acquired during their program of study. Here we describe the development and beta testing of a convenient tool to enable physiology and physiology-related program educators to map these professional skills across their curriculum. The tool, referred to as PS-Map, uses the Qualtrics® platform which allows program educators to assess whether these professional skills are specifically taught and/or assessed and the level of mastery achieved within individual courses and across their program curriculum. The authors have made the PS-Map tool freely available to educators and provide practical tips for its implementation. Use of the PS-Map tool and the data collected can help educators to identify specific curricular gaps and to more broadly support collaborative links amongst educators across a program of study.