Letter to the Editor Regarding “Pathology Informatics Education Committee of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP)”

We would like to update the Toxicologic Pathology community on a new education committee, “Pathology Informatics Education Committee (PIEC),” within the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP). The fields of digital pathology and artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, diagnostics, and research pathology have undergone rapid growth and development in recent years with the advent of digital whole slide imaging (WSI). Whole slide imaging can free pathologists from the requirement to utilize light microscopes and physical glass slides, allowing professional consultation and expert analysis in multiple distant locations as well as in remote locations where there is limited access to veterinary pathologists. Furthermore—and perhaps more importantly—the generation of high-dimensional WSI data enables pathologists to implement image analysis techniques and apply various computational methods to integrate WSI data with clinical and laboratory (eg, “-omics”) data, thereby enhancing the pathologists’ interpretation and evaluation. Quantitative image analysis, AI, cloud-based information sharing, and the design and development of future education infrastructures, will all require close partnerships between pathologists, information technology professionals, image analysis specialists, and data scientists. Pathologists have been, and will continue to be, crucial in that process. To reflect the evolution of the practice of veterinary pathology, and in support of the ACVP Strategic Plan, the PIEC has been formed. The committee’s charges, derived in partnership with the Board of Directors and others within ACVP (including, but limited to Training Program Accreditation Task Force, Training Program Committee, Life Long Learning Committee and Foundation Committee), include the following: (1) proposal of a resident/trainee curriculum in Pathology Informatics; (2) assistance with development of a Virtual Training Network (VTN), where trainees may have access to scientific experts and cutting-edge technologies that are not readily available at all veterinary pathology training program sites; and (3) facilitation of opportunities for continuing education (CE) for practicing pathologists.

One of the key goals of the PIEC is to develop a self-learning curriculum that can be easily implemented into any veterinary pathology training program. Such a curriculum could also serve as an informatics foundation for residents and trainees as well as a resource for seasoned pathologists wanting to gain a basic foundation in the principles and practice of informatics. The curriculum would include important topics and resources from the Pathology Informatics Essentials for Residents program ¹ (https://www.apcprods.org/pier) in addition to elements necessary for veterinary pathologists. The topics covered include computing fundamentals, importance and understanding of databases, medical informatics standards, molecular pathology fundamentals, decision support software, and digital pathology, image analysis, and AI. Each topic is divided into rationale, learning outcomes, specific topic content, and recommended learning resources to include books, journal articles, online resources, and practical exercises. The curriculum was designed for residents to spend approximately 80 hours (10 days) during their training period. However, the curriculum can be adapted or expanded according to the resources available at the training program, through the VTN, and/or based on the resident’s career interest. The first version of the curriculum is currently under review and will be published soon. Since pathology informatics is an emerging field, the curriculum will need to be updated annually.

Our second charge involves recognition, development, and vetting to create a network of virtual training, or a VTN. In our field, there are recognized centers of excellence as well as individuals who have a deep knowledge in specific areas of pathology, such as organ system or species specialization. With emerging and rapidly evolving technologies, subject matter experts may not all be within the same institution, or some programs may lack the unique mix of pathologist and data scientists. As we are challenged with these new and rapidly evolving techniques, the development of a VTN will be critical to the education of veterinary pathology residents as well as in the context of lifelong learning, for both early to late career pathologists. The resources may include access to invited webinars hosted by ACVP and allied partners including the Society of Toxicologic Pathologists, the Association for Pathology Informatics (API), and the Digital Pathology Association (DPA). Other identified areas of study as part of the VTN include structured courses, a certification program, self-directed online classes, and webinars and blogs. These can be free or for a fee and may have variation in depth of material and organization. We will collect available resources, assess the quality, and make summaries available through the ACVP website. For example, recently, we have defined some of the commonly used terminologies in pathology informatics for veterinary pathologists to be found here: (https://www.acvp.org/general/custom.asp?page=pathology_informatics).

The final component of the PIEC’s initiatives is to provide CE opportunities for veterinary pathologists through a variety of forums, such as online resources and webinars (ie, VTN), the ACVP annual meeting, and publications. For instance, the 2020 ACVP Annual Meeting will be hosting a full day virtual workshop on the “Practical Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Veterinary Pathology.” This course will cover the practicalities of utilizing the emerging field of computational pathology and AI. Pathologists will have an opportunity to gain insights into potential applications, benefits, and limitations of existing AI technology. Moving forward, the PIEC intends to host or cohost sessions on “hot topics” in pathology informatics at ACVP annual meetings. A practical, “hands on” workshop facilitated by digital pathology, image analysis, and AI experts and vendors at an annual meeting could be incredibly useful for those pathologists just entering the field of informatics and/or exploring these technologies for implementation at their home institution. Inviting experts from other professional societies, such as the API and DPA, to provide a lecture or workshop at the annual meeting will also be encouraged.

Overall, we hope that our committee’s initiatives will help the ACVP to prepare the next generation of pathologists with in-depth trainings in the rapidly evolving informatics field.