Face-to-face blood cell morphology teaching is labour-intensive, expensive and is rapidly being overtaken by web-based teaching methods, with few studies comparing learning outcomes between these two methods. Teaching pathology via online digital microscopy has previously showed positive outcomes for medical students in Australia and other studies demonstrated that web-based teaching could be successfully employed in various settings using methods such as dynamic telepathology, medical undergraduate pathology education, dental pathology teaching4 and use of virtual slides for pedagogy. In New South Wales, Australia, the Sydney West, and Rural and Regional groups are part of the state-owned laboratory network. These groups include remote laboratories that, combined with metropolitan laboratories, employ approximately 150 scientific staff who report blood cell morphology. Teaching remote laboratory staff requires travel to larger hospital laboratories primarily because abnormal blood morphology is seen more frequently at larger centres employing specialist haematologists, and scientists at these centres sub-specialise in haematology rather than general pathology.
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