“NATURAL HISTORY” OF VIRTUAL MICROSCOPY ADOPTION IN A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PRE-CLINICAL MEDICAL CURRICULUM

Judy Aronson*, Annette Ayala, Greg Asimakis. The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston TX 77555, U.S.A.

PURPOSE: Virtual microscopy (VM) will likely replace standard microscopy for teaching of histology and histopathology in medical schools. Our multi-disciplinary pre-clinical curriculum offers the opportunity to study the spread of VM through the program, and the evolution of faculty approaches to its utilization.

METHODS: At UTMB, VM has been implemented between 2002 and 2008 under the impetus of individual course directors, rather than by curriculum committee mandate. We classified VM applications according to the degree to which they enhanced existing teaching modalities, ranging from Level I (e.g. replacing glass slides in lab exercises with virtual slides), to Level III (e.g. annotated tutorials with self-assessment exercises).

RESULTS: VM was first introduced in two first year, basic science core courses in level II/ III applications from the outset. In subsequent organ system courses, two patterns of implementation were observed. In one pattern, the technology was gradually introduced, beginning with low level applications. In other courses, LIII applications were used first. Early adopters tended to start with higher level applications. Late adopters typically started with level I applications. Late adopters were as likely to be pathologists as not. Overall, there has been an exponential growth in the use of VM across the curriculum.

CONCLUSION/FUTURE DIRECTIONS: The patterns of adoption of VM reflect variations in rates of faculty acceptance of the technology but an overall appreciation for its educational value. We believe that allowing faculty to “buy-in” at their own pace will foster further creative integration of VM into the pre-clinical curriculum and beyond.