Introduction: Even though role-play promotes active learning, some students have considered it as the least preferred teaching method. This study was undertaken to determine the perceptions of first year medical students in an Indian medical college about the use of role-play in Physiology as a teaching-learning method and to determine if the perceptions varied between the role-players and the observers of the role-play as this has not been sufficiently explored by previous researchers. Methods: 46 first year medical students took part in the role-play and 97 students were observers. All 143 students completed a 12 item questionnaire about their perceptions regarding the use of role-play in Physiology using a 5 point Likert response scale and results were analysed using SPSS 17. Results: The majority of students perceived role-play to be interesting (95.80%), lively (86.01%), helpful in breaking monotony (96.50%) and in visualizing clinical features (86.71%). 83.22% felt that the role-play helped them learn attitudes of a doctor while treating patients and 87.41% felt that role-play was useful in learning communication skills. The role-play was considered to be realistic, facilitating the transition from classroom to clinical wards and while being appropriate for their level was also felt to be applicable to other undergraduate students. Comparison of the observers and role-players’ scores showed no significant difference in perceptions (p value 0.409) ie., both groups perceived role-play positively. Conclusion: From the perspective of first year Indian medical students, role-plays in Physiology are perceived positively.
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