Enhancing the importance of cytology and microscopy through an experiential learning activity

Recent trends have shown a declining interest from medical students in microscopy-based learning and subsequent specialties such as pathology. This has also coincided with a rise for virtual methods of identifying and teaching pathology utilizing online virtual microscopes. We aim to assess if a hands-on experience with cytology staining and microscopy would lead to an increase in interest in cytology, pathology, or microscopy-related specialties among medical students. We offered an experiential learning activity for medical students in which they will take an oral swab and perform Papanicolaou and other cell stainings along with microscopic visualization. The activity takes advantage of using an origami paper-based, smartphone-attachable microscope (Foldscope). The activity is offered to medical students of all years. We evaluated the impact of this workshop using a pre and post survey to assess student understanding and interest towards the study of cytology. The majority of participants (71%) were second year medical students. The main reasons for attending the activity were: To gain practical experience with microscopy, and with staining techniques, as well as to enhance their understanding of cytology and pathology. We observed an increase in the confidence score on preparing cytologic/pathology slides (p