Context The COVID-19 pandemic led to shutting of education faculties, including clinical clerkships for medical students. Objective To review a selective for a course in diagnostic pathology geared toward undergraduate medical students, including its design, technical implementation, instructor and student evaluations, and suggestions for options for further adjusting and optimizing the selective. Design Whole slide images (WSI) were anonymized and students were given remote access to university computers, which were prepared with two freely available WSI viewers. Each topic was taught in a four-part module: Self-assigned reading, lecture via Zoom, quiz based on digital slide sets, and a frontal review of the slides via Zoom. Fifty-nine students participated in the selective. Following the course, students completed an anonymous questionnaire. Results Of the 59 participants, 42% (n = 25) responded. None of the respondents had any previous instruction in diagnostic pathology. Overall, the course was rated very favorably: 68% (n = 17) gave at least 3 points on a 4-point scale on questions relating to course interest, improvement in understanding of the covered diseases, and how strongly they would recommend a student take this course if given an option. The most significant disadvantage of the class, as reported by 80% (n = 20) were technical challenges in accessing the slides. Conclusion We believe the course was a success and can be a model for future virtual pathology electives. Great effort should be done to provide technical support to the students. The selective demonstrated value for students and provided much-needed exposure to diagnostic pathology in clinical practice.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.