The Virtual Microscope: a powerful tool for learning and teaching

Summary With the introduction of a problem-based learning curriculum at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, the basic medical science curriculum has been reorganized in monthly, multi-disciplinary units dedicated to the main functions of the human body (reproduction, locomotion, etc.). Several disciplines including histology are therefore taught across these different teaching units. To optimise longitudinal integration and allow comparative analysis of histological sections, it became obvious that students should have a free and facilitated access to all histological specimen studied along the curriculum. To this end, carefully chosen specimens were digitalised at high magnification, stored in a database and made available dynamically through the web. This article describes the hardware and software infrastructure used, and the added values offered by a Virtual Microscope approach.