We're marking a couple of firsts on today's episode of Raise the Line. In the hundreds of podcasts we’ve done, we've never interviewed a goddess before, nor had a guest who has won an astounding seventy-five teaching awards, but that is the happy situation we face today in welcoming Dr. Linda Costanzo to the show.  She’s been on the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine for forty-three years, earning the nickname “Physiology Goddess” for her trio of books -- including Costanzo Physiology 7th Edition, published by Elsevier -- that have been translated into thirteen languages. One key factor in Costanzo’s longevity as an effective teacher is finding new challenges in long-taught material. “I sort of concocted a scheme to dig into areas of comfort to get that edge back, that fear of falling short, I would call it,” she explains to host Michael Carrese. This lively conversation is packed with valuable insights on teaching and learning including tips for how students can maintain enthusiasm for their studies, standards teachers should set for themselves and the “stepwise” approach to teaching that she has also employed in her textbooks. Mentioned in this episode:https://medschool.vcu.edu/Costanzo Physiology, 7th Edition