Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
University of Minnesota Medical Center Minneapolis, MN 55455-0385 JAMESFINK, MD, PhD KATHERINEPARK, MD VIRGINIAKUBIC, MD, PhD Department of Hematopathology, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology Hennepin County Medical Center Minneapolis, MN 5540
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doi: 10.5858/arpa.2014-0509-LE
Smart Phones
and Microscopic Image
Capturing: Searching,
Finding, Capturing,
Talking About, as Well as
Sharing Microscopic
Images of Pathologic
Conditions Form Another
Type of Learning Module
To the Editor.—I read the article by Morrison and Gardner1 with greatinterest. The article shows how fast the technologic devices in our daily lives conjoin with scientific and medical applications. Since the fall semester 2013, we have adapted a similar tech-nique at the pathology microscopy teaching sessions with medical students and would like to share our experience. Our technique for capturing images from a microscope using smart phones is slightly different from that used by Morrison and Gardner.1 During
mi-croscopy teaching sessions, we first inform the medical students about the images of pathologic process that they need to identify on their microscopes. If they have any questions, they capture the images of the pathologic processes, cells, or any structure with their smart phones. In addition, before consulting with an instructor, we encourage the students to show and share the images with classmates to get their opinions using their favored instant-messaging software. For tak-ing snapshots of images, they turn on the smart phone camera, open the camera options, and activate the ‘‘grid’’ function. That function is wide-ly available in many smart phone cameras. With the grid function on, they should see a 3 3 3 grid on their screen. When they bring the smart phones closer to the ocular lens, they need to locate the small light coming from the ocular and adjust the phone so that the ocular light is in the center grid. As their smart phones are brought closer to the ocular lens, the microscopic images become larger, filling the screen. They then take snapshots from the microscope. At first it seems like a complicated process, but it usually takes only seconds for medical students to learn the technique.
Using smart phones as auxiliary imaging devices, we noticed that medical students spend more time on microscopy teaching sessions, do not
get bored, and speak with each other about the images. Instead of passively listening, they actively participate. Another advantage of this approach is that it forces medical students to discuss the captured images from microscopy slides. Previously, we tried to force them to discuss the pathologic process; however, we were rarely successful. This process of searching, finding, capturing, discussing, as well as sharing microscopic images of pathologic conditions probably forms a novel type of learning module.
It is not a secret that young individuals like to have their smart phones in their hands at all times; medical/health care students, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, are no exception. Rather than blaming smart phones for being distracting, hence, creating nomophobic (‘‘nom-ophobia,’’ no-mobile-phone phobia, ie, fear of being without smart phone) students in the classroom, we have been encouraging students to use them in our sessions for approxi-mately 1 year. We observed that this approach positively affected their attitude and attracted them to mi-croscopy teaching sessions.
Smart phones are so placed in our daily life that I read the Morrison and Gardner1 article on my smart phone
and wrote the first draft of this corresponding letter on a smart phone as well.
HALDUNUMUDUM, MD
Department of Pathology Dr Ridvan Ege Hospital and
Ufuk University School of Medicine
06520 Ankara, Turkey
1. Morrison AS, Gardner JM. Smart phone mi-croscopic photography: a novel tool for physicians and trainees. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2014;138(8): 1002–1002. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5858/arpa. 2013-0425-ED.
doi: 10.5858/arpa.2014-0436-LE
Arch Pathol Lab Med—Vol 139, July 2015 Letters to the Editor 847
