Physiology Beyond the Classroom proposes that learning becomes deeper and more meaningful when situated in authentic, culturally grounded, and socially relevant environments. Although numerous community-based and outreach initiatives exist, limited attention has been given to integrating these experiences into the teaching of foundational biomedical sciences in health professions education. This review maps and synthesizes recent evidence on community engagement, science outreach, and internationalization applied to physiology education, emphasizing their impact on professional formation and on competencies required for contemporary health-care challenges. This narrative review includes publications from 2023–2025, encompassing qualitative studies, educational interventions, mixed-methods research, and experience reports, with a focus on original, creative, and socially situated initiatives. Findings indicate that learning beyond the classroom strengthens both conceptual understanding of physiology and transversal competencies highlighted in international frameworks such as OECD (economic and social policy cooperation), WHO (World Health Organization), AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Activities in schools, health-promotion events, science fairs, and community extension programs enable students to “learn by teaching,” consolidate complex concepts, reduce stress, and increase motivation. Engaging with real-world problems makes physiology visible in everyday life and reinforces its social and clinical relevance. Service-learning experiences enhance autonomy, empathy, agency, assertive and empathic communication, and social belonging. Science-outreach practices, such as interactive demonstrations, hands-on workshops, and gamified exhibitions, simultaneously expand public scientific literacy and promote creativity, collaboration, and engagement among students. Internationalization initiatives, particularly through digital collaborative models, foster intercultural competence and global awareness without requiring physical mobility. Interactions with peers from other countries support joint problem-solving and broaden scientific discussions through diverse perspectives. Despite promising outcomes, most studies rely on small samples, qualitative designs, or self-reported measures, underscoring the need for more rigorous evaluations of conceptual learning. Overall, this review argues that situating physiology in real, diverse, and socially meaningful settings transforms not only what students learn, but how and why they learn. Such practices cultivate critical thinking, collaboration, empathy, social responsibility, and global awareness—competencies essential for health-care professionals in rapidly evolving and complex scenarios. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2026 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.
Carvalho et al. (Fri,) studied this question.