The Group for Research in Pathology Education (GRIPE) is a society of educators who are involved in educating pathology and related disciplines to medical, osteopathic and dental students. The GRIPE 2021 meeting was held virtually on June 18, 2021, following the 2021 IAMSE meeting. The GRIPE membership is excited to become a participant in the IAMSE annual meeting and enthusiastic about the opportunities for collaboration with the IAMSE membership.

This year’s meeting marked the 50th anniversary of the initial GRIPE meeting held on June 11, 1971, in Iowa City, IA, hosted by Dr. Thomas H. Kent from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. The first meeting had 13 pathology educators who met to discuss educational approaches to teaching pathology and to exchange pathology learning materials. Subsequent meetings led to development of a robust digital library with over 6000 peer-reviewed questions and 4000 peer-reviewed images of clinical pictures, gross specimens, and microscopic pathology. Membership in GRIPE allows access to these resources. The theme for the GRIPE meeting this year was “Teaching and Evaluation Using Distance Learning.” We had 72 people registered for the GRIPE conference, and the conference included a plenary session, poster presentations, oral presentations, and a workshop.

Conference Day

The conference began on June 18 with Dr. Neil Osheroff, IAMSE president, welcoming the GRIPE participants to IAMSE. This was followed by a welcome of the attendees to the GRIPE meeting by GRIPE president Dr. Osvaldo Padilla and Program Committee co-chair Dr. Niti Manglik.

Dr. Amy Lin, past president of GRIPE, introduced the plenary speaker Dr. Andrea Deyrup, whose topic was “Building Community: Discussing the Pathogenesis of Health Disparities in the Context of Remote Learning.” Dr. Deyrup is a professor of pathology at the Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. She is the director of undergraduate medical education in the pathology department at the Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Deyrup is one of the co-editors of the new Robbins pathology textbook, Essential Pathology, and the upcoming 11th edition of Robbins Basic Pathology. She has also published on bone and soft tissue pathology. She is actively committed to antiracism in medicine and medical education.

Dr. Deyrup spoke about increasing demands from medical students to address health care inequities, not only at the point of physician–patient contact, but also within the biomedical sciences. She also discussed how textbooks are replete with race-based “facts” particularly regarding incidence and outcomes, without questioning the accuracy of the information, thereby perpetuating stereotypical assumptions in medicine and medical education. She further discussed how educators have a challenging role of teaching this sensitive topic in a remote learning setting and supplied strategies that might be used to successfully teach this difficult concept while building student and faculty trust. The presentation generated tremendous participation and interesting discussion with Dr. Deyrup and the attendees.

Oral Presentation

There were three live oral presentations which were moderated by Dr. Jyotsna Pandey, GRIPE Program Committee member; all were available as asynchronous pre-recorded videos on the IAMSE website. Oral presentations and their authors are listed as follows:

Oral Presentation 1 — Implementation and Evaluation of Virtual Laboratory Tours for Laboratory Diagnosis of Hematologic Disease. By Dr. Teresa Scordino, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, USA.

Oral Presentation 2 — It Takes a Virtual Village: Interdisciplinary Zoom Interactive Sessions. By Tipsuda Junsanto-Bahri, Kamilah Ali, Maysa Azzeh, Stacey Fanning, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Oral Presentation 3 — A Virtual Pathology Residents-as-Teacher’s Program During Covid-19. By Lianna Goetz, Nicole Williams, Elizabeth Frauenhoffer, Francesca Ruggiero, Olajumoke Oladipo, Evelyn Potochny, Melissa George, Rachel Casas, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, PA, USA.

Poster Presentation

Ten posters were available on the IAMSE website; they were presented in two breakout rooms which were moderated by Program Committee co-chairs Dr. Niti Manglik and Dr. Ellen Dudrey. Each poster presenter had five minutes to give a summary of their poster, followed by an interactive question-and-answer session. Posters and their presenters are listed as follows:

  1. 1.

    Learning Outcomes of Online and In-person Pathology Education

    Jing Meng, Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA, USA.

  2. 2.

    Mounting Change—Restructuring Undergraduate Pathology Pedagogy in an Online Environment

    Ritcha Saxena, Medical University of the Americas, Charlestown, Nevis, West Indies.

  3. 3.

    The Effect of COVID-19 on Medical Student Confidence in Clinical Setting

    Vincent Torelli, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie, PA, USA

  4. 4.

    Effectiveness of Online Pathology Lecture in Medical School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

    Elena Tran, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie, PA, USA

  5. 5.

    Going Virtual Overnight—the Establishment and Success of a Virtual Pathology Elective at Loyola Pathology

    Brandon Zelman, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, USA

  6. 6.

    Tumor Board Program

    Prit Patel, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

  7. 7.

    Students Supporting Students—the Peer Tutoring Program

    Tipsuda Junsanto-Bahri, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

  8. 8.

    Virtual Clinical Pathology Electives During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Formats and Student Feedback

    Christina Shreve, Osvaldo Padilla, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA

  9. 9.

    Distance Learning due to COVID-19 Pandemic During Clinical Years of Medical School

    Iqra Kazi, Osvaldo Padilla, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA

  10. 10.

    Roles of Teaching Assistants in Histology and Pathology Courses During Pandemic-Induced Remote Model Curriculum

    Olalekan Ogunsakin, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Workshop

This year’s workshop was on “The Essentials of Moving to Online Team-Based Learning,” which was a very timely workshop for anyone looking for immediate understanding of the fundamental issues and solutions to implement online TBL™. This workshop was presented by team of experienced TBL trainers/consultants: Rebecca McCarter, independent consultant and scholar; Michelle Moscova, UNSW Sydney; Caroline Wilson, Chapman University; and Liz Winter, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. The workshop was run in a TBL format and included pre-work with links to multiple TBL resources and two videos on essentials of team-based learning. The learning objectives for the workshop were as follows: (1) Integrate the three components of the course orientation process that assure learners’ understanding of the course processes, delivery, and objectives and their responsibilities and expectations. (2) Determine the time frame for preparation materials, RATs, and application exercises in your course. (3) Identify where and how to implement iterative peer evaluation in online TBL™. (4) Identify the essential elements for facilitation in online TBL™. (5) Optimize the technology tools available to you that will best support your learners in successfully engaging in online TBL™. During the workshop, participants experienced what it is like to be a learner in an online TBL class and were provided with practical strategies for implementing online TBL in their classroom. The workshop generated a great deal of discussion among the participants and was very successful.

Conclusion

The GRIPE meeting had a successful conclusion with more registrants and attendees than in past years. Next year’s GRIPE conference will be held on Saturday, June 4, 2022, in Denver, CO, as a part of the IAMSE conference.