Pathology pots; linking educational value

A large, accumulated collection of pathology specimens without descriptions and with minimal labelling is being developed as a shared, multi-centre teaching resource. The aims are to create a system simple to implement over a long period of time, simple to transfer between institutions, and simple for learners to work with. We are linking the physical pathology specimen with Internet-based information by tagging the pot with machine readable code. Pathologists review pathological specimens and make a short audio recording for each, describing the visible pathology, their causes, and often including a fictitious case that aids linking of symptoms to pathology for the learner. The audio recording and relevant links are added to a custom website’s database, generating a new dynamic web-page and a unique QR code that is printed and applied to the specimen’s case. Students can use a mobile device with a QR code scanning application to scan the code and be directed to a mobile-optimised website that holds the title for the pot, a small image and a 3–5 min audio description of the visible pathology. In this way the emphasis is applied to the pathology specimen itself, aiming to encourage students to engage with the physical tissue and not solely the internet-based information

Pathological pots: a valuable physical and virtual resource

net based audio recordings were an innovation in the second year medical student respiratory morbid anatomy teaching. Short auditory stimuli were linked with a case study questions and photographs of anatomical specimens. These link pathological lesions directly to the signs and symptoms of disease. These were extremely popular with learners and accessible outside the laboratory environment. They were made to ensure all learners had equable access to the resources and an awareness of learner and pathologist teaching time being pressurised. They link pathological lesions directly to the signs and symptoms of disease. Evolution of this teaching compared favourably with previous 2 years evaluation of resource heavy teaching with physical interaction in the laboratory with the three dimensional specimen. Pod casts are a way of giving distilled and thoughtful stimuli in a resource conscious and accessible way. However, interaction with the physical three dimensional specimen is still invaluable and must be encouraged. This evaluation has encouraged the development of similar resources for different body systems