The Department of Physiology was established in 1970 with the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Initially, the Department of Physiology was located at Jalan Dr. Latif, Kuala Lumpur. When the permanent building of the faculty was completed in 1978, the Department of Physiology was located on the 4th floor, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur. In July 2014, the Physiology Department was moved to the Pre-Clinical Building at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, UKM Medical Center, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

The administration division is on the 18th Floor, while the laboratory & research division is on the 9th Floor. The first Head of the Physiology Department was Dr. Abdul Rahim bin Omar. Until 1981, the academic staff of the department were from Indonesia.

Currently, the Department of Physiology is led by Associate Professor Dr. Siti Fatimah Ibrahim as the Head of Department and assisted by 11 academic staffs, an officer  and 12 supporting staff.

The main activities of the department are teaching physiology courses to undergraduate students (Medical, Dental, Nursing, Audiology and Speech Science Program as well as diploma students) and Master of Medical Science (Physiology) Program. In addition, lecturers in the Department of Physiology are also actively involved in the research and supervision of graduate students (Master of Medical Science and Doctor of Philosophy) and undergraduate students of Doctor of Medicine and Bachelor of Biomedical Science.