Learning Histopathological Microscopy

Histopathological tissue analysis by microscopy is a process that is subjective, prone to interand intra-observer variation. This, along with the problems associated with verbalising visual elements of the diagnostic process, make learning the skill quite difficult. Training is long and largely relies on an “apprentice” model, where trainees learn the skill by witnessing an expert at work. Here we present the first findings of a longitudinal study of a group of histopathology trainees. By monitoring the progress of the trainees, we hope to be able to provide information that will improve training and assessment. In this paper we discuss the results of early data collection and analysis, from a web-based study of trainee classification accuracy and classification time.