Introduction to Skin Cancer #1: Basic Histology and Anatomy
Channel: Arash Mostaghimi
Date: 2016-08-06

Video #1 of 4

These introductory skin cancer video modules engages novice health care professionals to make histological-clinical correlations for the three most common skin cancers: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma.

The goal of this video module is to engage novice health care professionals to go beyond the all-too-common phenomenon of memorizing gross and histological features of skin cancers without reference to the relationship between these features. By explicitly highlighting underlying histological-clinical correlations for BCC, SCC, and melanoma, this video module helps learners build a deeper and lasting knowledge of these common diseases. 

This module was successfully incorporated into the first-year flipped classroom curriculum for medical and dental students at Harvard Medical School. Written comments from students revealed that they enjoyed watching short concept videos to prepare for in-class, case-based discussions of BCC, SCC, and melanoma. 

By illustrating histological-clinical correlations and reducing cognitive load of the material through use of cartoons and prototypical clinical images, this video module is an accessible initial resource for an emerging generation of millennial health care professionals to learn about common skin cancers.

Please find supplemental materials here: https://goo.gl/EN1L6V

Educational Objectives
By the end of this module, learners will be able to:

1. Describe how squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma are classified.

2. Understand the relationship between hallmark histological and clinical features for SCC, BCC, and melanoma.

3. Describe key histological differences between nevi and melanoma.

4. Identify clinical ABCDE:  asymmetry, border irregularity, color variation, diameter greater than 6 mm, and evolution features of dysplastic nevi and melanoma that make them distinct from benign nevi.

5. Describe the four main subtypes of melanoma: superficial, nodular, lentigo maligna, and acral.

6. Describe the three main subtypes of benign nevi:  junctional, compound, and dermal.

Published at MedEdPORTAL:
Rana J, Mostaghimi A. Introduction to skin cancer: a video module. MedEdPORTAL Publications. 2016;12:10431. http://dx.doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10431

Copyright Creative Commons 2016
Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0