Fungal Infection Trust and University of Manchester’s Microfungi.net makes essential fungal pathology skills accessible across the globe

Submitted by helenfindon on 4 November 2019

This week, November 4-10, medical professionals across the country will be observing National Pathology Week, an annual awareness week created by the Royal College of Pathologists that aims to both highlight the important contribution pathologists make to healthcare and improve public awareness and understanding of how pathologists and scientists diagnose disease.  

This year’s theme will focus on innovations big and small within pathology, including smart initiatives that help make a difference to the health of patients, and contribute positively to the work of other healthcare professionals.

A collaboration between the Fungal Infection Trust and The University of Manchester’s Division of Infection, Immunity & Respiratory Medicine has allowed the innovative Microfungi.net online microscopy course to make a difference in the careers of medical professionals worldwide.

Microfungi.net consists of an extensive range of free e-learning units, designed to teach the identification of fungal infection via lessons in microscopy, the examination of objects by means of a microscope, in a full range of tissue specimens.

Bright Ocansey, a 27 years old medical laboratory scientist and current PhD student from Ghana said of the benefits of Microfungi.net to his career:

“As an undergraduate in a developing country where medical mycology education and training is poor, the Fungal Microscopy and Histology e-learning course was for me the mycology laboratory practical’s session I never had in school. In addition to acquiring knowledge and practical skills in fungal diagnostics, it further fuelled my passion to work with medically important fungi and as a professional I became the fungal disease laboratory focal person in my facility.

Microfungi.net hosts its modules in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Chinese and is accredited by the Royal College of Pathologists, making top class educational content accessible to a global audience. It currently has over 1,300 students spread across 122 different countries and plans to add more languages in the future. You can find a link to Microfungi.net here.

Bright Ocansey continued:

There are very few medical mycology educators in the world (particularly so in developing countries) and time allocated for teaching and laboratory practical sessions is limited if existent. So for both students and practising professionals, the course is a rare opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills in fungal disease diagnosis. The transferable skills from the course really influence how I design and carry out my laboratory protocols. The course is the foundation of my expertise in fungal diagnostics.”