Learning Dermatopathology in the Digital Age

Honorable Mention: Derm In-Review

Derm In-Review (http://dermatologyinreview.com/Merz) is sponsored by Merz Pharma and is well known as a broad-reaching resource that reviews the entire breadth of our field for those preparing for in-service or the boards examination. To learn dermatopathology, there are 2 ways to access the digital images: through the Web-based interface and via the mobile app (compatible with iOS and Android). The slides are not categorized but rather are presented in a random order to facilitate quiz taking. The slide images are only photographs of individual features and are not meant to be manipulated as true digital slides; however, the images are good representations of diagnoses, and short descriptions help with learning histologic features. Currently, Aurora Diagnostics (Woodbury, New York) is funding the dermatopathology portion of Derm In-Review, and the online application has already seen a face-lift. With the addition of more content, an updated mobile app, and possibly digital slides, this app will become a more useful tool for learning dermatopathology. Access to Derm In-Review is free with registration on the Web site.

Honorable Mention: Dermpath University

Dermpath University (http://www.dermpathdiagnostics.com/university/digitaldermpath) is a Web-based educational resource of Dermpath Diagnostics that houses a large collection of digital slides. These slides are categorized and can be viewed as unknown cases or with the diagnoses revealed. The images are of high quality and the software is intuitive; however, aside from the diagnosis, slides are not labeled with histologic features or comments about them. The best way to think of this collection is to imagine it is a digital version of the organized slide boxes many residency programs have for teaching purposes. Access to Dermpath University is free with registration on the Web site. Dermpath University also is home to weekly live teledermatology sessions; the schedule can be found on the Web site.

Online Courses: DermpathMD and MDlive

Although structured differently than the other apps described in this article, DermpathMD (http://www.dermpathmd.com) and MDlive (http://www.mdlive.net/dermpath_sch.htm) offer free online dermatopathology courses that are also valuable resources. Rather than discrete apps or digital slides, the courses available from these sources are presented in a lecture-based format to provide overviews on specific topics in dermatopathology. DermpathMD has lectures available as PDFs to download, while MDlive has narrated presentations. Both of these resources are good supplements to a dermatopathology textbook and can be used to obtain a basic foothold on the subject matter before more detailed study.

Conclusion

Learning dermatopathology is no longer done exclusively behind a microscope. The resources presented here bring the experience of learning and reviewing histology slides to your fingertips, sharpening your ability to hone in on the correct features to make an accurate diagnosis. Studying from these digital resources is convenient, comprehensive, and generally free of charge. I hope that you enjoy experimenting with these programs to find a combination that suits your educational needs.