Preparation strategies for physiology competition: lessons learned from participants of Indonesian Medical Physiology Olympiad

Competitions outside the medical curriculum provide a platform for medical students to acquire advanced knowledge in specific medical subjects. The Indonesian Medical Physiology Olympiad (IMPhO) is the first and the largest competition in the field of physiology at the national level in Indonesia. It was held for the first time in 2017 and has been an annual physiology competition since then. This competition offers several challenges in different forms, including writing tests and oral rounds, to assess both individual and team capabilities in analyzing and comprehensively understanding human physiology. Consequently, the participants in this competition must have an in-depth understanding of human physiology concepts and develop a winning strategy to become a successful team. This article outlines the preparation strategies employed by the participants of IMPhO in 2022 and how they can be adopted to promote effective study skills for medical students. We conducted a semistructured interview with participants and their accompanying lecturers to explore their strategies for the competition. We highlighted several important strategies, including utilizing resource materials effectively, fostering teamwork, providing mentorship, and emphasizing the role of lecturers as team supervisors. These competition-based learning strategies also can be adopted to promote effective study skills in formal curricula for medical students. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This article outlines several important strategies to become a successful team in a physiology competition. These strategies include utilizing resource materials effectively, seeking mentorship, and recognizing the role of lecturers as team supervisors to improve their understanding of human physiology concepts. Furthermore, fostering teamwork and understanding how the competition is structured are crucial for achieving success as a team. These approaches can also be adapted to improve effective study techniques for medical students.