Journal de cytologie et d'histologie

Once Upon a Microscopic Slide: The Story of Histology

Abstract

Inaya Hajj Hussein, Mohamad Raad, Rawan Safa, Rosalyn Jurjus and Abdo Jurjus

For centuries, histology has maintained its remarkable place in the medical curriculum. However, its teaching has been influenced by the new technological advancement that has reshaped medicine teaching into a more modern student-friendly form. Since its inception in the 18th century, the discipline of histology has progressed hand in hand with the advancements in microscopy and microscopic technologies, including immunohistochemistry. In the traditional curriculum of USA medical schools, especially after the first Flexner’s report of 1910, histology was considered as very essential topic for a physician studying the “Art and Science” of medicine. In this era, the teaching relied more on the light microscope and to some extent on the electron microscope. However, the field nowadays, after the second Flexner’s report, which stressed the importance of integrating clinical topics in the curriculum, is shifting towards the use of more electronic resources for teaching. Such new resources rely on information technology and electronic imaging modalities which are considered to be more student-friendly, time efficient, consistent in conveying the images, promote self-learning and are less costly. In fact, in the last 25 years, most universities started relying on virtual microscopy with limited use of the light microscopy by the students. Such an approach facilitated curricular integration of histology into histopathology and provided the opportunity to promote self-learning and clinical relevance. In the era of competency-based curriculum, histology remains an essential and indispensable basic science in the integrated modules