Massive open online course on adventuring and stress

Have you noticed that massive open online courses (MOOC) have become a thing amongst prestigious institutions? I have a lot more free time since recently deactivating my Facebook account, so decided to take one of these classes. With so many courses available now, I narrowed down the course offerings to those from the three big universities leading the movement: Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.

I looked for a course in medicine, one that started in January, and one that was simple enough for me to do a little before bed each night. Stanford's Environmental Physiology 101: Your Body in the World: Adapting to Your Next Big Adventure, which ends today, fit the bill.

The course description claimed that it would require 2-4 hours of work per week. I watched the videos and completed coursework in less than an hour, granted that this wasn't entirely new material for me. What the course did was integrate a lot of stuff I already know (sympathetic nervous system, anatomy, respiratory physiology, endocrinology) and apply it to the body under stress. It is so cool.

We first learned about how the body responds to extreme cold and then to extreme heat. Next came how aging and stress manifests in bodies, then came extreme altitude and variable pressure. It was one topic each week, with a couple of fun videos, a bunch of lecture videos, and some multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank exam questions.

So, did I learn anything? Yes, though the course was not as rigorous as what I expected from a top-tier university. It was partially my bad, though, because I intentionally steered clear of more time intensive courses.

Would I do it again? Yes! Since there are so many courses available now, I will be selective in which ones to sign up for; it can be too easy to try all of them. In the future I hope to take classes in the humanities but right now I'll stick to medicine, as a way of rounding out my education.

Do I recommend it? Of course. Find a course that fits your interests (check out Coursera and Udacity in addition to those linked above).  Education is awesome.