live group microscopy courses
Expert Education + *Micro* Class Sizes
Our first series of workshops have closed. Look for our next series later this year. Interested in a private workshop or series of workshops for your team? Please email rachel@amwellds.com for more information.
We've changed the workshop pricing to Pay-What-You-Can starting at $55 for a live seat and $25 for a viewer-only ticket!
Let's build on our technical education, not leave it behind.
One of the biggest trends in veterinary laboratory diagnostics is automation, particularly in the field of cytology and clinical pathology. However, this automation often comes at a loss of technical know-how and confidence.
Our goal with offering these courses is to help veterinary professionals (CVTs, RVTs, LVTs, non-credentialed staff, and VAs) regain confidence and level-up their technical knowledge and skillsets in cytology. This will empower them to get more satisfaction out of their work, enable better patient care, help them bring more value to the table, and build on their hard-earned education.
The 10x View
These courses will be taught in a 2-hour live, virtual format over Zoom on your (or your practice's) microscope:
Tues., April 25th, 3-5 pm EST - Urinalysis - Wet & Dry Prep
Wed., May 3rd, 3-5 pm EST - Blood Film
Thurs., May 11th, 3-5 pm EST - Fecal Float & Direct Smear
Tues., May 16th, 3-5 pm EST - Skin & Ears
Wed., May 24th, 3-5 pm EST - FNA: Characteristics of Malignancy
Class registrations close the Friday before the class!
*Micro* class sizes are capped at seven live seats, meaning Sam can individualize training and support to help you get the most out of the class.
Classes are priced using a Pay-What-You-Can model, with live seats starting at $55 and viewer-only seats starting at $25. Sign up for four and get the fifth class free! We're also hoping to release some sample prep videos!
Meet the Instructor: Sam Geiling, Credentialed Veterinary Technician
Sam Geiling, Credentialed Veterinary Technician and Co-chair of NAVTA's Government Relations Committee, will be planning and facilitating these group courses. Sam is a credentialed veterinary technician, Navy veteran, and educator. She has taught for over a decade in many areas of veterinary technology including her favorite, laboratory techniques. She is able to build confidence with sample preparation, microscopic review, and providing results to a veterinarian, even for those with no prior microscope or laboratory experience. She is passionate about ensuring microscopy skills are not lost in clinical practice.
shop live group microscopy courses
Class registrations close the Friday before the class, and only seven seats are available per class!
Classes are priced using a Pay-What-You-Can model, with live seats starting at $55 and viewer-only seats starting at $25. Looking for a discount? Sign up for four and email rachel@amwellds to get the fifth free!
Workshop #5: FNA: Characteristics of Malignancy
Lumps and Bumps: Use cytology to quickly determine if a mass is benign, malignant, or inflammatory.
Outcomes:
- Identify malignancy characteristics
- Differentiate the basic types of malignant tumors
- Classify types of inflammation
- Sample Needed: Fine needle aspirate and non-aspirate samples
Workshop #4: Skin & Ears
I Smell Trouble: Identify the cause of skin and ear issues.
Outcomes: Distinguish between various types of inflammatory cells, identify Malassezia spp. yeast organism and bacteria, and recognize ear mites.
Sample Needed: skin impression slide + skin tape prep + four ear swabs
Workshop #3: Fecal Float & Direct Smear
Solid Number Two: Well, maybe not, but you'll be better at reading fecals.
Outcomes:
- Detect motility on a direct fecal smear
- Discuss common and not-so-common internal parasites
- Sample Needed: two grams fresh fecal sample
Workshop #2: Blood Film
Blood Doesn't Have to Be Scary: The CBC machines don't have eyes, learn to use your own to find abnormalities in blood smears.
Outcomes:
- Classify the five types of white blood cells and their roles
- Characterize abnormal erythrocytes
- Quantify platelets
- Identify common blood parasites
- Sample Needed: fresh whole blood in an LTT
Workshop #1: Urinalysis: Wet & Dry Prep
Fresh is Best: Build confidence looking at urine under the microscope (and confirm the UA machine results!).
Outcomes:
- Identify epithelial cells, red and white blood cells, crystals, casts, and more on a wet prep
- Make a line smear to examine cells and bacteria in urine on oil immersion
- Sample Needed: fresh urine sample
WORKSHOP DETAILS
What materials do I need for these classes?
You'll need a microscope with camera, and a specific sample per class:
- fresh urine for the UA class
- fresh whole blood in a LTT for the blood film class
- 2 grams fresh feces for the fecal class
- skin impression slide + skin tape prep + four ear swabs for the skin and ears class
- FNA and non-aspirate samples for the FNA class
When are the live workshops, and how long is each class?
These courses will be taught in a 2-hour live, virtual format over Zoom on your (or your practice's) microscope:
Tues., April 25th, 3-5 pm EST - Urinalysis - Wet & Dry Prep
Wed., May 3rd, 3-5 pm EST - Blood Film
Thurs., May 11th, 3-5 pm EST - Fecal Float & Direct Smear
Tues., May 16th, 3-5 pm EST - Skin & Ears
Wed., May 24th, 3-5 pm EST - FNA: Characteristics of Malignancy
What if I don't have a microscope camera?
We recommend investing in Skoped Micro, an adapter and app purposely built by a DVM to perfectly connect your smartphone to your microscope. Full transparency, we love Skoped Micro so much, we're partnering with them: if you use our discount code (which is coming soon!) for 10% off, we get 10% of those sales, which we use to cover our platform hosting and credit card processing fees for these courses (instead of bumping up the price!).
What if I don't have a microscope?
We offer viewer-only Pay-What-You-Can seats starting at $25.
What if I need to cancel or reschedule?
Please email rachel@amwellds.com if you need to cancel. Cancellations at least one week before the class starts will be refunded 100%. Cancellations within a week or less before the class starts will be refunded 50%. If we have a planned date for the same class, we can transfer your registration at any time for no fee.
What is Pay-What-You-Can pricing?
We recognize veterinary techs (and many vets!) are typically severely underpaid, and we want to prioritize accessibility of these workshops. Are these workshops only "worth" $55 to a practice? ABSOLUTELY NOT, but we understand many techs will be paying for this education on their own.
Some of our favorite microscopy-related and spectrum-of-care resources
We love the intersection of vet lab + spectrum of care, and want to share some standouts with you. We don't receive any compensation from this, except through our partnership with Skoped Micro (see transparent partnership details below).
Looking for more in-house lab techniques that can be part of your spectrum of care? Authors Ryane Englar and Sharon Dial focus on providing a variety of technical skills, along with the critical thinking associated with each technique, to boost your knowledge and grow your diagnostic arsenal.
For those interested in taking our classes, we recommend investing in Skoped Micro, an adapter and app purpose-built by a DVM to perfectly connect your smartphone to your microscope.
Full transparency, we love Skoped Micro so much, we're partnering with them: if you use our discount code (which is coming soon!) for 10% off, we get 10% of those sales, which we use to cover our platform hosting and credit card processing fees for these courses (instead of bumping up the price!).
Externally managed, professional payment plans put your practice back in the driver's seat when it comes to making care affordable (not hoping a lender's or insurance's algorithm works out for your clients!). Suzanne Cannon, Co-founder at VetBilling, is a tremendous friend to Rachel, the founder of Amwell Data Services. Suzanne and Rachel are equally excited about how each other's business' truly makes vet med a better place!
Interpreting cytology results is much easier on a clean microscope!
