Creating Integrated Histology Flash Cards with Clinical Correlations in Teaching Histology

Abstract

Well designed histology flash cards are a useful tool for learning histology. Integrating pathological images and clinical cases makes flash cards especially helpful in enhancing students’ understanding of how the normal tissue could develop into abnormal tissue, and what pathological condition and clinical disease may be associated with this change. The integrated flash cards provide students a good platform to maximize their exposure to clinical information in their early stage of medical training. Because of the portability of the flash cards, they serve as convenient learning tools for quick review, self‐assessment, and preparation for exams. We created customized histology flash cards at four levels: (1) Introductory cards that help students to quickly review basic organization of the materials; (2) Cards with normal and pathological images to help students to appreciate their differences; (3) Cards with key point information to strengthen their knowledge base, and (4) Cards with practical questions and clinical vignette in USMLE style for students to prepare for various exams. In brief, Histology Flash Cards with Clinical Correlations serve as an efficient, convenient and flexible tool for students to learn histology, as well as strengthen their ability to integrate histology and related clinical information.Grant Funding Source: University of Mississippi Medical Center