The 2021 Descriptive Veterinary Pathology course was once again held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We welcomed virtual participants from all over the world, with a few folks in Oceania staying up all night to participate! Lectures by Dr. Linden Craig (University of Tennessee), possum queen and goddess of the necropsy floor, were entertaining and informative, and the poll questions kept all those type-A competitives on their toes. Dr. Patty Pesavento (UC Davis) hopped in to bridge the two worlds with her fantastic Macro-micro correlations lecture that introduces participants to the concept of tissue-specific algorithms. The following day, Dr. Jey Koehler (Auburn University) walked participants through some general descriptive best practices, followed by specific details on neoplastic vs. non-neoplastic process descriptions and special tissues. We then had a mock exam with histo multiple choice questions, followed by a popular peer-review exercise that introduces rubrics and grading as a way to learn how to write more efficiently. The following day Dr. Pesavento wowed everyone with her fantastic ultrastructure lectures, as well as an introduction to all those next-level tests we should all be using for advanced pathology. The mock histo exams and gross interpretation exams were a hit as always, as were lectures by Dr. Paul Stromberg (The Ohio State U.) on cognitive errors in diagnostic pathology, and Dr. Stephanie Shrader (StageBio) on pathology reporting in drug discovery and tox path. Although we weren’t able to reach out and shake each other’s hands or share a beer, there was great discussion and a lot was learned by all.
