State-Of-The-Art Reading Room Enhances Dermatopathology Learning

Cockerell Dermatopathology is proud to announce the completion of its state-of-the-art reading room located at the organization’s headquarters in Dallas, Texas. The high-tech conference room houses a 13-headed microscope used for hands on training, multiple video monitors, and a dedicated digital internet server that is used to host live and recorded educational sessions to physicians and residents around the world.

The digital system works much like Apple’s digital calling service called FaceTime, which is an application found on the iPhone where two people may look at each other while they talk on the phone. With Dr. Cockerell’s platform, a dermatopathologist may look at a tissue sample in a microscope and the image of what the physician is viewing is projected on the video monitors for the viewers to observe. Then when someone speaks, whether that is one of the dermatopathologists or other occupants in the reading room, the camera pans the room to focus on the person speaking and then moves back to the microscope and its occupant.

When observing a live session, a participant, regardless of location, may ask questions and have them answered by one of the occupants in the reading room. Live sessions are recorded and accessed via a web link for future viewing.

In the past, in order to implement this type of teaching style, a video camera was mounted near the microscope and sent the microscope’s images through a video conference system, such as WebEx. The video and audio oftentimes were not in sync, and the audio would lag a couple of seconds behind the video transmission. The system at Cockerell Dermatopathology is much more advanced and easily enhances the learning of those wishing to improve their dermatopathology skills.

The dates and times of the live sessions will be announced in a future post.

For more information on Cockerell Dermatopathology, please visit www.dermpath.com.