Digital slide sets for teaching and learning: what do trainees and teachers think? A questionnaire study at an academic medical centre

In recent years, there has been a gradual increase in adoption of digital pathology tools in postgraduate pathology training in Singapore. Trainees’ and faculty members’ utilisation and preferences regarding digital pathology tools for teaching and learning were hitherto unknown in Singapore. Hence, the aim of this observational study was to explore trainees’ and faculty members’ attitudes and perceptions towards the adoption of digital pathology tools for pathology education, and to guide institutional decisions on digital pathology resources to develop and/or invest in. A questionnaire was distributed to faculty members and trainees. Twenty-three responses from trainees and 10 responses from faculty members (“teachers”) were received. The results showed no significant difference in trainees’ use of physical and digital teaching slides (P = 0.456). However, the trainees and teachers were not satisfied with the current physical teaching slide sets mainly due to faded staining (47.8 % of trainees and 28.6 % of faculty). In terms of digital platforms, the respondents preferred certain digital slide viewers because of image loading speed. Respondents preferred the digital slides with annotations and explanation of features (81.8 %), in addition to the final diagnoses (90.9 %). In conclusion, this study provides direction for tailoring digital resources for trainees and teachers at our centre, which may be extrapolated to academic medical centres nationally and regionally.