The majority of students coming into Physiology programs are doing so because they are curious about how the human body works in health and in disease, so it makes sense to build your curriculum around people and their stories. But what worries us all, is that this can sound like a plan to dilute the essential basic sciences and result in a course that is high in ‘good intentions’ but low in rigor. But this needn’t be so. Used properly, case-based teaching can motivate students, encourage self-directed learning and enhance knowledge and understanding of basic physiological concepts. Most courses where cases are used rely on paper cases. Here is a tyical example: “Mrs M is a 74 year old lady who has become increasingly breathless over a number of years. She is now very limited in what she can do because of this. She was admitted to hospital with acute respiratory symptoms on three occasions over the last two years. She has a past history of cigarette smoking. On examination, Mrs M is a rather thin woman. Her face is a dusky color, and her lips have a bluish tinge. Her breathing is quiet but labored. Her chest movements are poor but symmetrical with a lot of activity in her accessory inspiratory muscles and expiratory effort as well. Listening to her chest reveals very quiet breath sounds. There are occasional crepitations and scattered rhonchi. Her heart rate is 82 bpm. Her heart sounds are normal.” The difficulty with paper cases is that we don’t see the people as ‘real’. The students always think that we have ‘created’ the person to provide a good example of the condition that we wish them to understand the basic physiology of. And certainly, with a paper case, there is a temptation to manipulate the story and the data to remove the complexities of real life. And, because the students don’t really see the ‘patient’ as a person, they are not really concerned for him or her. With modern computers and fast internet, it is now possible to replace these paper cases with videos. To make compelling videos what we need are co-operative patients. But we also need to be sure that the videos that we produce are of professional quality, for the students watch professional videos every day and are never happy to see ‘amateur’ efforts. My experience is that the most difficult part of the production is sound recording. But lighting is another problem at times. Most importantly, the format of the videos needs to be considered. Should these be filmed as interviews or should the patient speak directly to the audience? The latter seems to be the more effective in involving students in the patients and their problems. It is also appropriate to video interviews with family and with health care professionals (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, etc) involved with the patient. These interviews provide students with a broader perspective about the patient’s problems and their professional management. Video cases can be used to illustrate points during lectures, as part of case-based tutorials, to reinforce laboratory work and also as part of on-line learning. They are very effective used as an introduction to the study of a new topic, for they can arouse interest in the topic and provide motivation to study it. They are also very suitable for use in group work where you wish to encourage student collaboration. During the talk, I shall provide several examples of video cases and how they can be used to motivate students, increase the relevance of laboratory time and reinforce the understanding of basic physiological concepts.