October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser So, Now You Have a VS Collection, What’s Next? Al Telser Northwestern University– Feinberg School of Medicine October 23, 2007

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser What uses can be made of Virtual Slides? Archival storage of rare, historic, or exceptional specimens Educational purposes Of course, then there are all those pathology uses

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser Who will use VS? Every year, in the US, ca. 25,000 students enroll in a medical or dental school –This number will increase by 25-30% in the next decade All these students take histology –These courses typically have a lab component Many pathology courses also have some sort of lab –Furthermore, residents in pathology undergo extensive training in histopathology Many undergraduate courses include histology labs as part an Anatomy & Physiology course And even some high school curricula teach introductory, basic histology ALL these educational settings would benefit from well thought out and well designed VS slide packages

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser How have medical curricula changed? About years ago, many medical curricula underwent major changes Adult learning techniques were emphasized: –Active learning vs. passive learning –Class lecture and overall contact time was reduced –Student self-directed learning –Many small group activities were added to the curriculum Problem Based Learning (PBL) An entire class may be divided into colleges The small group learning aspects of labs were acknowledged Students were encouraged to think about their own personal learning styles Students were encouraged to form and use small study groups

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser A VS “slide set” –Can be delivered to any number of students, at any time – anywhere in the world –Can easily accommodate increases in class size –Can easily be enhanced by other images or examples Electron micrographs (TEM or SEM) Gross anatomy Autopsy specimens Immunohistochemical specimens Selected alternatively stained specimens Modern imaging techniques Short audio or video examples can be included –Can satisfy one important aspect of interest to faculty and to students All students love practice exams All faculty love REAL exams How can VS fit into such curricula?

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser Now for some examples

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser Digital Analytical Histology ScanScope

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser ScanScope

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser

October, 2007Copyright Alvin Telser Conclusions There are substantial educational venues for Virtual Slide Histology Atlases Their design and execution need to be done carefully for each venue, since — The specific teaching goals of each venue are critical to the success of VS Histology in the classroom