Presented at the 1998 APIII Conference                        Return to 1998 Abstract Index

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, California
Christopher L. Felten, DO
Alberto M. Marchevsky, MD

Current educational Web sites at various Medical Schools employ predominantly still digital images and textual information with limited use of more advanced multimedia applications. In collaboration with the Instructional Design & Technology Unit (IDTU) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a comprehensive Web-based tutorial was designed to teach second year medical students pulmonary pathology. The site features high-resolution digital gross and histologic images with accompanying audio descriptions. Students can zoom and scroll the images on the computer monitor in a manner that simulates light microscopy ("virtual microscopy") using Netscape browser (Mountain View, CA) and inexpensive plug-in software (Prizm, TMS Sequoia, Stillwater, OK). Currently, the system does not offer the ability to change focal planes. The audio descriptions are presented in RealPlayer (RealNetworks, Inc., Seattle, WA) format. Continued development has led to the addition of an "automated" pathology lecture on pulmonary neoplasms created using PowerPoint 97 (Microsoft, Redmond, WA) and Real Publisher (RealNetworks, Inc.) software. World Wide Web hyperlinks to many other excellent educational resources are also provided. The Web-based tutorial supplements traditional laboratory instruction in an effort to stimulate greater student interest and improve learning.