Presented at the 2000 APIII Conference Return to 2000 Abstract Index
DERMATOPATHOLOGY ONLINE CASE COLLECTION
UCLA
Medical Center
Los Angeles, California
Honggang Shen, MD,
PhD
Background: Pathology is an information-dependent
medical specialty, and the Internet represents one of the
most powerful instruments for the dissemination of information.
To explore the benefits of the Internet as an educational
resource for improving pathology education, an online case
collection is created. This online case collection is based
on a large collection of available cases in the Department
of Pathology, UCLA Medical Center. It is a web-based self-study
guide for practicing pathologists and pathology residents
with basic computer skills and Internet knowledge.
Design: In this online case collection, a case study format is used. Each case starts with the patient’s history, high-resolution microscopic views, and a link to the final diagnosis. In the final diagnosis page, links to clinical presentation and detailed features of each disease entity are included. This online case collection also provides a search function that makes it easier to find a specific word or word combinations. It was developed using the most recent Internet technology and digital imaging hardware and software. FrontPage 2000™ (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA) was used to create the web pages. Olympus™ Microscope Digital Camera and FlashPath™ (Olympus America Inc., Melville, NY) were used for high-resolution image capture and image presentation. The search function was provided by Atom.com™ (San Bruno, CA).
Results: Currently, fifty-seven (57) dermatopathology cases are included, with the intension for future expansion. The size is about 9 megabytes with two hundred forty-eight (248) high-resolution digital images. This online case collection is available at http://wwwpathnet.medsch.ucla.edu/med-edu/DermWebs/Home.htm.
Conclusion: A web-based case collection offers several advantages over the conventional type of case studies (glass slides, Kodachromes, etc.). Its presence in the World Wide Web (www) makes it accessible at any time and in any place. The links to the Internet sites that contain clinical presentations, pathological features, and references enable it to function as a gateway to the vast information available in the Internet. A searchable case collection makes finding specific information faster and easier. It is prudent to predict that web-based education resources are the future of pathology education.