Digital Histology Interest Group or DHIG

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.

Hi all,

I've been following the discussion on the Forum.  Love the enthusiasm!  I really like the idea of a webinar series for teaching histology.  This would be a huge member benefit, and could outweigh the benefit of a one-day meeting or a mini-meeting within EB, as not all of our members are able to travel to the annual meeting.  A histology webinar series would help spread your knowledge and expertise, and educate the next generation of anatomists.

I bring to your attention the Innovations Program.  Letter of intent deadline is June 15!

Keep up the conversation!

Kim

I agree with Kim's thoughts on a focused webinar series about teaching histology.  Of all the suggestions, it would probably have the broadest benefit for AAA members.  I was also thinking of how we might change the DHIG luncheon.  It is great fun to get together in a nice restaurant, but might it be more practical to have a luncheon at the meeting site where we can have a meaningful discussion about teaching histology while we enjoy lunch?  The restaurant atmosphere and seating arrangement has not been conducive to chatting about histology.  We can also encourage members of the group to organize occasional symposia like the one Raj put together for this year's meeting.

Dave

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.

Hi Stef,

All of these suggestions are great!  I really love the idea of incorporating histology meetings/seminars into the annual AAA meeting, or immediately following the meeting.

Hopefully we can get this rolling.

Hello everyone,

Thank you to those who replied with your thoughtful feedback!  It is inspiring to hear from you.  Based on your input, it looks like we will submit a letter of intent to the Innovations Program to fund a histology webinar series.  If you haven't responded yet, we're still interested in hearing your thoughts via this forum.

Should we be invited to submit a proposal, we will put together a formal survey to capture the specific needs of AAA members.  We will keep you updated through Anatomy Connected.

Many of you expressed interest in coming together at some point during the annual meeting since the DHIG luncheon and histology tables at the round table session are becoming very popular.  Let's keep these discussions going too so that our group can connect in person.  I agree that this is important.

Cheers,

Stefanie

I've been following the discussion, and I guess I probably should weigh-in with my observations. 

First, it was suggested that the Digital Histology group should consider looking for a different venue for our community ("(e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE)").  As a very-long time member of AAA with a lot of loyalty to the Association, I think that Anatomy is the "natural" home for our community and that it would be a shame to have to switch to a different venue.  I think that we should try to work within the confines of AAA, but If we decide to move, the American Society for Cell Biology might be a better fit than a 'general education' group like IAMSE ... most histologists also are (closet) cell biologists.  But I really think that we should try to stay within AAA.

Second, I do NOT think that a webinar series can substitute for the sort of more informal discussions that we would like/need.  While I'm not opposed to a webinar series, I think that an informal round-table session would be much more useful.  My experience with webinars is that they really are more similar to a lecture format than to an informal round-table discussion, and I don't think that a webinar series will allow the type of interactions that we would have at a meeting (those face-to-face interactions is why we go to the EB meeting). If the Program Committee for AAA can't accommodate an informal round-table for DHIG, then perhaps we should look into how complicated it would be to expand on the DHIG luncheons that Lisa has put-together at the last two EB meetings.  From my perspective, the down-side to our previous luncheons was that our table was in the middle of a noisy dining room, which limited discussion.  Would we be able to do the sort of networking that we've been talking about if we had a private dining room and allocated more time for the luncheon?  Would AAA be willing to support this financially as a 'mini-meeting' within the context and time-frame of the EB meeting?  If AAA wouldn't support this, would the members of DHIG be willing to sign-up (and pay) in advance for reserving a private dining room at a restaurant during the EB meeting?

Kem,

You and James Rhodes make a good point!   I am willing to bet that I am truly an 'old professor' having retired twice and on my third career of now 8 years teaching and managing a popular online histology course for the University of South Carolina.  Absolutely, there is no adequate way to substitute or replace face to face contact with students or with colleagues concerning issues related to teaching histology.  At the same time, a series of Webinars related to approaches to teaching histology face to face and online can be very helpful to some of our AAA members who cannot attend the annual meeting due to time and/or financial constraints.  I have been having email and phone conversations with Lisa Lee and Stefanie Attardi (and with Michael Hortsch and Haviva Goldman) about all of these issues.  I have encouraged them to proceed with a few Webinars and I know they are also working on a better venue for the gathering of histologists at lunch within the location and context of the annual meeting.  I encourage you and all of my histology colleagues in this forum to jump in with help and ideas as they work on some venues.  I am a career long histologist so am definitely biased toward a good presence of histology in medical curricula.  I am aware that there seem to be those who are thinking more and more histology as a side show and not necessary as a crucial component of medical curricula.  I am in the camp that believes histology is critical because it provides for the student the substrate upon which function occurs at the microscopic level, histophysiology.  So, my main point is that technology available to us today provides a way to reach and contribute to members of our society that cannot regularly attend the annual meetings. I will turn 80 this summer.  I communicate with my online histology course students by email, discussion board, posted videos explaining difficult to understand content in the course and sometimes by a phone conversation.  Not a substitute for face to face, but it works!

Bob Ogilvie

Kem,

You and James Rhodes make a good point!   I am willing to bet that I am truly an 'old professor' having retired twice and on my third career of now 8 years teaching and managing a popular online histology course for the University of South Carolina.  Absolutely, there is no adequate way to substitute or replace face to face contact with students or with colleagues concerning issues related to teaching histology.  At the same time, a series of Webinars related to approaches to teaching histology face to face and online can be very helpful to some of our AAA members who cannot attend the annual meeting due to time and/or financial constraints.  I have been having email and phone conversations with Lisa Lee and Stefanie Attardi (and with Michael Hortsch and Haviva Goldman) about all of these issues.  I have encouraged them to proceed with a few Webinars and I know they are also working on a better venue for the gathering of histologists at lunch within the location and context of the annual meeting.  I encourage you and all of my histology colleagues in this forum to jump in with help and ideas as they work on some venues.  I am a career long histologist so am definitely biased toward a good presence of histology in medical curricula.  I am aware that there seem to be those who are thinking more and more histology as a side show and not necessary as a crucial component of medical curricula.  I am in the camp that believes histology is critical because it provides for the student the substrate upon which function occurs at the microscopic level, histophysiology.  So, my main point is that technology available to us today provides a way to reach and contribute to members of our society that cannot regularly attend the annual meetings. I will turn 80 this summer.  I communicate with my online histology course students by email, discussion board, posted videos explaining difficult to understand content in the course and sometimes by a phone conversation.  Not a substitute for face to face, but it works!

Bob Ogilvie

Well said Bob!  Dave (another old histology teacher)

Hello everyone,

I love all the active discussion among this group!  I have been reading the posts and wanted to touch base with you regarding any activities at the Annual Meeting at EB 2017 in Chicago. It is better to plan early. While we don't really have money budgeted for any additional activities, I do have some ideas for low-cost activities for the group to get together.  When the group meets, is it just for networking and brainstorming ideas? Or will there need to be a presentation with powerpoint presentations? 

Some ideas that we might be able to do (depending on interest):

• Provide a room at lunch time for a brown bag lunch.  There are limited options for restaurants near McCormick Place convention center for the group to meet for lunch.  There is a food court in the convention center.  If the group wants to grab lunch (on their own), then I can provide you with a room to sit and talk without the noise and distraction of a restaurant.


• Provide a room in the morning or late afternoon for a networking round table symposium.  This would be before or after the daily sessions though. 


• Not related to the annual meeting, but if the group would like to have conference calls then we can provide a conference call number for monthly or quarterly calls.  There is a cost involved, but minimal to the association. 

Please let me know your thoughts on any of the above and I can move forward with the planning.

Thank you,

Colby

Hello everyone,

I love all the active discussion among this group!  I have been reading the posts and wanted to touch base with you regarding any activities at the Annual Meeting at EB 2017 in Chicago. It is better to plan early. While we don't really have money budgeted for any additional activities, I do have some ideas for low-cost activities for the group to get together.  When the group meets, is it just for networking and brainstorming ideas? Or will there need to be a presentation with powerpoint presentations? 

Some ideas that we might be able to do (depending on interest):

• Provide a room at lunch time for a brown bag lunch.  There are limited options for restaurants near McCormick Place convention center for the group to meet for lunch.  There is a food court in the convention center.  If the group wants to grab lunch (on their own), then I can provide you with a room to sit and talk without the noise and distraction of a restaurant.


• Provide a room in the morning or late afternoon for a networking round table symposium.  This would be before or after the daily sessions though. 


• Not related to the annual meeting, but if the group would like to have conference calls then we can provide a conference call number for monthly or quarterly calls.  There is a cost involved, but minimal to the association. 

Please let me know your thoughts on any of the above and I can move forward with the planning.

Thank you,

Colby

Colby:

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'll defer to the group's consensus (Lisa, Michael, or Haviva: would you be interested/willing to be the 'point-person' for developing a consensus?), but my 'vote' is for Colby's option #2 ("Provide a room in the morning or late afternoon for a networking round table symposium.  This would be before or after the daily sessions though") ... an early 'breakfast' meeting or a late 'happy-hour' round-table meeting seems to be ideal since it would be least likely to conflict with other EB events (although that also might be true for a lunch-time meeting).  If we aim for a late afternoon meeting, if possible, we probably should look for a day when there wasn't a major keynote talk (e.g., biochemist's Herbert Tabor lecture, pathologist's Rous-Whipple lecture, or physiologist's Walter Cannon lecture) scheduled at the same time.  The advantage of a 'happy-hour' round-table would be that there wouldn't be something really pressing right afterwards ... so we wouldn't have to shut-down discussions at the official 'end-time'.  From my perspective, we also could make a 'breakfast' or 'lunch' meeting work nearly as well as a 'happy-hour' meeting, particularly if there wasn't something scheduled in the room immediately following our round-table.

What are the rules regarding funding an EB session?  When Matt Velkey, Jennie Eastwood, and I proposed a round-table histology session three years ago, we discussed the possibility of soliciting financial support from one or several of the 'virtual' microscopy companies: Aperio (Leica) and Olympus were the companies we first thought about, but MBF Bioscience or GE might be other possibilities.  If AAA could provide the DHIG with a room and a time-slot, would it be against the 'rules' for us to get a vendor to provide the food?

If we can do it, I think that it would be really great to get the round-table session scheduled for this year's EB2017 meeting.

      - -  Jim

Well said Bob!  Dave (another old histology teacher)

I also like the face to face interaction with students as well as with colleagues much more than I like webinars or other digital formulations. However, extended face to face meetings are difficult to arrange even during the FASEB Meetings, therefore, I would be very happy to participate in digital conversations with those members of the Digital Histology group who are able to find the time to join the discussion. Most of us who teach or - in my case taught - Histology are committed to the subject matter and view it as a lynch-pin that helps students transition from Gross Anatomy to Physiology to Immunology, and to Histopathology. It is a shame that Medical and Dental School curricula neglect the anatomical sciences especially when the future of Medicine is so intimately entwined with human biology.

Dear DHIG colleagues,

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Stefanie Attardi and I am new to the DHIG. I am an Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. I primary teach histology but also contribute to gross anatomy in the dissection laboratory. I am in the beginning stages of research on medical histology education.

Sparked by James Rhodes’ post about a histology round table, I recently asked Bob Ogilvie if he could recommend any professional meetings for histologists. I was looking for a meeting that included: (1) ample sessions about excellence in histology teaching and research on histology education; (2) the opportunity to meet vendors who sell software specific to histology teaching and to trial their products; and (3) a venue to network with fellow histologists. We were unable to find such event. Many of the anatomy conferences focus on gross anatomy and offer, at most, one special session dedicated to histology. Meetings of other associations (e.g. IAMSE, AAMC, AMEE) cover a broad range of topics in medical education, so they are not able to devote sufficient time to histology.

I believe we are all aware that as medical curricula become more integrated, the amount of time devoted to histology teaching decreases (Bloodgood and Ogilvie, 2006; Drake et al., 2009) and the content becomes dispersed. Despite when and how it is included in the curriculum, it is important that we continue to advocate the importance of our discipline and to develop best teaching practices.

Bob and I have been speaking with other histologists to gather ideas for professional development opportunities in our discipline. Here are some suggestions:

• Development of an AAA Histology Training Program. (Example of an anatomy training program: http://www.anatomy.org/anatomy-training-program.html)

• One day histology meeting following the conclusion of the annual AAA meeting in the same city

• Mini-meeting within the annual AAA meeting at EB (i.e. 3 sessions focused on histology)

• Histology-focused AAA regional meeting

• Histology-focused webinar series

We are trying to get preliminary information from all (nearly 70) members of the DHIG to see if you share our interest in advancing professional development for histologists. Which of the above ideas are the most and least appealing to you and why? Do you have any ideas to add? Do you think the sentiment of the DHIG is captured in the slogan “transforming histology”? Do you have colleagues outside of the DHIG who teach concepts using microscopic images and might be interested in this kind of professional development (e.g. members of the American Society for Investigative Pathology)?

Some of the ideas would require funding (e.g. through the AAA Innovations Program). Should we move forward with an Innovations Program application, a questionnaire could more formally capture input from the DHIG. Your initial thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Attardi

Literautre Cited:

Bloodgood RA, Ogilvie RW. 2006. Trends in histology laboratory teaching in the United States medical schools. Anat Rec B New Anat 289:169–175.

Drake RL, McBride JM, Lachman N, Pawlina W. 2009. Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anat Sci Educ 2: 253– 59.