MEDSMITH · Digital Pathology EducationBydgoszcz, PolandVol. 1 · 2026
MEDSMITHPathology Education
Recorded courses · Written casebooks · Self-paced

Diagnostic pathology, taught from the slide up.

Seven self-study modules on digital slides, biopsy, cytology, gynaecological oncopathology and molecular diagnostics — written by pathologists who sign reports every week, for residents and laboratories that want to do the same with confidence.

Browse the contents The complete program
68 hrecorded lectures
120annotated cases
400atlas images
24 hto first access
Purple haematoxylin-stained tissue section seen through a microscope eyepiece
Fig. 01 — Haematoxylin-stained tissue section, brightfield, through the eyepiece. Every module starts where diagnosis starts.
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Abstract

Who teaches

MEDSMITH is a small medical research company in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Its founder is a doctor of medical sciences and pathomorphology specialist working in oncological diagnostics, with a European MSc in Molecular Pathology and research stays at Institut Curie and Radboud UMC. The company holds Polish patent rights for a biopsy needle guide and a device for preparing cytological smears — the same instruments that appear in the courses.

What you get

Recorded lecture series, a written reporting casebook and downloadable atlases, organised as seven numbered modules that can be taken alone or as one curriculum. Each module ends with self-assessment; the complete program issues a certificate of completion.

How it is delivered

Everything is digital and self-paced. After payment you receive your personal access details by email within 24 hours. There are no live sessions, no fixed dates and nothing to ship — you study when the microscope is switched off.

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Plates

Archive tray of glass slides being sorted by gloved hands
Fig. 02 — Slide archive. The casebook draws on routine sign-out material, not on textbook rarities.
Gloved hand positioning a smear slide under the microscope light
Fig. 03 — Smear on the stage. Module 04 pairs preparation technique with screening practice.
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Contents

Seven modules, numbered in the order we recommend — although each stands on its own. Prices include VAT; the payment page shows the total in your currency.

03 Laboratory bench with a microscope, rotator and sample tubes

Biopsy in Tumour Diagnosis

From needle to diagnosis: sampling, handling, interpretation

Recorded lecture series (streamed)
11 h · 18 lectures
€690VAT included
Details →
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Curriculum map

One table for the whole curriculum: what each module is made of, how long it takes and how long you keep it.

No.ModuleFormatExtentAccessAssessmentPrice
01Foundations of Digital PathologySelf-study web modules9 h · 14 lessons12 months30 questions on annotated whole-slide images€490
02Diagnostic Reporting CasebookWritten course material (PDF library)120 cases · 6 chaptersPermanent downloadEach chapter closes with ten short-answer cases and a key. No formal examination€590
03Biopsy in Tumour DiagnosisRecorded lecture series (streamed)11 h · 18 lectures12 months25 image-based questions€690
04Cytopathology & Smear PreparationRecorded course + downloadable atlas14 h · 22 lessons · 400 images12 months + permanent atlas40 screening questions from the atlas€890
05Ovarian & Gynaecological OncopathologyRecorded course (streamed)16 h · 24 lectures12 months30 case-based questions€1.190
06Molecular Pathology in Diagnostic PracticeRecorded course + downloadable reference sheets18 h · 26 lectures12 months + permanent sheets30 questions including three full NGS reports to interpret€1.690
07Diagnostic Oncopathology — Complete ProgramRecorded courses + all downloadable material68 h · 104 lessons · 120 cases24 months + permanent downloadsThe six module assessments (pass mark 70 %, two attempts each) plus a final 40-question integrated paper. Certificate issued when all are passed.€2.990

All prices include VAT and are per seat. Modules 01–06 bought separately come to €5.540; the complete program (07) contains all six.

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Anatomy of a lesson

Every recorded lesson has the same five parts, in the same order, so that after the second lesson you stop noticing the format and start noticing the slide.

  1. 0:00 · 3 minClinical context

    Age, site, imaging, the question the clinician actually asked. Written on the screen exactly as it arrived in the laboratory.

  2. 3:00 · 12–18 minThe material, at your magnifications

    A whole-slide image or smear navigated live, from 2× architecture to 40× detail, with the author thinking aloud — including the fields that mislead.

  3. ~18:00 · 8 minThe differential and the question you ask the slide

    Which two or three diagnoses are really in play and what immunostain, level or molecular test would separate them at the lowest cost in tissue.

  4. ~26:00 · 5 minThe report, word by word

    The synoptic report as it was signed, with the sentence on uncertainty read out and explained.

  5. End · 5–10 minSelf-assessment

    Three to five new fields on the same theme, answered before the model answer appears. Results feed your module record.

Pathologist at a sign-out workstation with a slide viewer on screen
Fig. 04 — Sign-out workstation. Lessons are recorded on the same viewer you would use for digital diagnosis.
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Method

The modules follow the way a pathologist actually learns: look, describe, decide, report — then check against the answer.

  1. Look at the material first

    Every lecture opens on a slide or a smear, not on a definition. Whole-slide images are shown at the magnifications you would use yourself.

  2. Describe in the report's language

    Terminology follows WHO classifications and ICCR datasets, so what you learn transfers directly to your own synoptic reports.

  3. Decide with the differential open

    Immunohistochemistry and molecular tests are introduced as questions you ask the slide, with cost and tissue budget in mind.

  4. Check yourself

    Self-assessment after each chapter with model answers. The complete program tracks progress and issues a certificate when all assessments are passed.

Two labelled glass slides held in gloved hands over a worksheet
Fig. 05 — Two sections, one block. Casebook exercises show the H&E next to the stain that settles the question.
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Faculty & research

Pathologist reading a slide at a brightfield microscope
Fig. 06 — Reporting session at the brightfield microscope.

The curriculum is written and recorded by the company's founder, Adam Kowalewski, MD, PhD, and reviewed by colleagues in diagnostic and molecular pathology.

“A small biopsy is not a small diagnosis. The course exists because too much of what decides a report is never taught explicitly.”
  • TrainingDoctor of medical sciences; pathomorphology specialist working in oncological diagnostics at the Oncology Centre in Bydgoszcz.
  • MolecularEuropean MSc in Molecular Pathology; research fellowships at Institut Curie (Paris) and Radboud University Medical Center (Nijmegen).
  • ResearchPublications on ovarian, renal and breast cancer diagnostics and on biopsy in tumour diagnosis, including recent work on personalised diagnostics in ovarian cancer.
  • InstrumentsInventor of a medical biopsy needle guide (with Łukasz Szylberg) and a device for preparing cytological smears, both protected at the Polish Patent Office and held by MEDSMITH.

About the company

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Instruments behind the courses

Gloved hands adjusting a glass slide on the microscope stage
Fig. 07 — Pre-analytics decide the slide. Both of the company's instruments work before the first section is cut.

MEDSMITH began as a device company. Two instruments protected at the Polish Patent Office are the reason the biopsy and cytology modules exist — and appear in them as worked examples of pre-analytical quality.

  • Needle guideA medical biopsy needle guide for core sampling. Targeting and repeatability are where most avoidable diagnostic loss happens; Module 03 opens with what a needle does to tissue.
  • Smear deviceA device for preparing cytological smears — uniform spreading and immediate fixation. Module 04 pairs the technique with the screening it makes possible.
  • In the coursesNeither module requires the instruments. They are shown as one standardised way; the lessons teach the principle, whichever tools your laboratory uses.

More about the instruments

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Single module or complete program

Buy the one module you need this month, or the whole curriculum with longer access and a certificate. The arithmetic is below; both routes lead to the same lectures.

Modules bought separately 01–06

  • 01 · Foundations of Digital Pathology€490
  • 02 · Diagnostic Reporting Casebook€590
  • 03 · Biopsy in Tumour Diagnosis€690
  • 04 · Cytopathology & Smear Preparation€890
  • 05 · Ovarian & Gynaecological Oncopathology€1.190
  • 06 · Molecular Pathology in Diagnostic Practice€1.690
Total12 months per module, no certificate€5.540

Complete program 07

  • All six modules, 104 lessonsincluded
  • Casebook, atlas, reference sheetspermanent
  • Access24 months
  • Progress record and certificateincluded
  • Email correspondence with the authorincluded
TotalVAT included · per seat€2.990
You keep €2.550 against the separate modules

See the complete program

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Assessment & certificate

Specimen · issued as PDF

Certificate of completion

Diagnostic Oncopathology — Complete Program

Modules 01–06 · 68 hours of recorded and written study · integrated final paper passed

Issued to the name on the order, dated on the day the final paper is passed, signed by the author.

MEDSMITH · Bydgoszcz · Vol. 1 · 2026

Assessment is there to tell you what you missed, not to gate the content. Every module closes with an image-based paper; the program adds one integrated paper across all six.

  • Per module25–40 questions on annotated fields, pass mark 70 %, two attempts. Model answers are shown after each attempt.
  • ProgramSix module papers plus a 40-question integrated paper. The certificate lists modules passed and total hours studied.
  • RecordYour module record stays on your order page and can be exported as a PDF for a training portfolio.
  • CMEHours are stated on the certificate. Whether your national body counts them depends on local rules; we provide the syllabus for your application on request.
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A study plan that fits a rota

Twenty-six weeks at four to five hours a week takes a resident through the complete program. Access lasts 24 months, so the plan bends around on-call and examinations.

Weeks 1–3Foundations of Digital Pathology — set up the viewer, learn the artefacts, run the validation exercise9 h
Weeks 1–26Diagnostic Reporting Casebook — two cases a week alongside everything else120 cases
Weeks 4–7Biopsy in Tumour Diagnosis11 h
Weeks 8–12Cytopathology & Smear Preparation, with the atlas screening exercises14 h
Weeks 13–18Ovarian & Gynaecological Oncopathology16 h
Weeks 19–25Molecular Pathology in Diagnostic Practice18 h
Week 26Integrated final paper; certificate issued on passing2 h
Reading a textbook at a wooden desk, pen in hand
Fig. 08 — The casebook is designed to be read in short sittings, two cases at a time.
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Readership

Row of microscopes on a black bench in a teaching laboratory
Fig. 09 — Teaching laboratory. Departments can enrol several trainees under one order.

Residents in pathology

A structured route from digital slide basics to integrated molecular reporting, with a casebook for examination preparation.

Cytotechnologists & laboratory staff

Preparation technique that decides adequacy, screening systems and the artefacts that cost a diagnosis.

Clinicians who read pathology

Oncologists, gynaecologists and interventional radiologists who want to understand what the report can and cannot say about their sample.

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For departments and laboratories

Two pathologists at laboratory workstations comparing digital slides
Fig. 10 — Two workstations, one order. Each seat receives its own access details.

A department can enrol several trainees under one order and one payment. Seats are personal; progress is tracked per person and reported to the training lead on request.

1–10

Set the number of seats in the cart. Same price per seat, one payment, one order page.

11+

Write to us for a departmental arrangement: staggered start dates, a named training lead, invoicing to the institution.

24 h

Access details for every seat are sent within one working day of payment, to the addresses you give us.

Enrolment for departments

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Reading list & standards

The modules teach against published classifications and reporting standards, not against the author's habits. These are the references the lessons cite most often.

  1. WHO Classification of Tumours, 5th edition — Female Genital Tumours; Breast Tumours; Urinary and Male Genital Tumours; Thoracic Tumours; Digestive System Tumours.
  2. International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR) — datasets for the reporting of carcinoma of the ovary, endometrium, cervix, breast and lung.
  3. College of American Pathologists — Validating Whole Slide Imaging Systems for Diagnostic Purposes in Pathology, guideline update 2021.
  4. The Bethesda System for Reporting Cervical Cytology, 3rd edition (2014) and The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology, 3rd edition.
  5. The Paris System for Reporting Urinary Cytology, 2nd edition.
  6. The Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology, 2nd edition.
  7. AMP/ASCO/CAP — Standards and Guidelines for the Interpretation and Reporting of Sequence Variants in Cancer (2017).
  8. ASCO/CAP — HER2 testing in breast cancer, 2018 focused update and 2023 HER2-low commentary; MMR/MSI testing guidance.
  9. UICC TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours, 8th edition, and AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, 8th edition.
  10. ESGO/ESTRO/ESP — guidelines for the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma (2021), for the molecular classification in practice.
Reading glasses resting on an open textbook
Fig. 11 — Where the lessons send you next. Every module ends with a page of references keyed to its lessons.
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Access & terms

How and when do I get access?

Within 24 hours of payment (working days) you receive an email with your personal access details for the streamed lectures and download links for written material. Your order page, which opens right after payment, keeps a permanent record of what you bought and where to write.

How long is the material available?

Streamed modules are available for 12 months from the day access is granted (24 months for the complete program). Downloadable atlases, reference sheets and the casebook are yours permanently.

Are there live sessions or fixed dates?

No. All modules are recorded or written and entirely self-paced. Questions about content can be sent by email; we answer within a few working days.

Can my department enrol several people?

Yes — set the quantity in the cart. Each seat receives its own access details. For more than ten seats write to us for a group arrangement.

What does the price include?

The displayed price includes VAT. The payment page may show the total in your local currency; our payment provider acts as merchant of record and issues the payment receipt. Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay are accepted.

Can I withdraw after purchase?

Until access is delivered you can cancel for a full refund. Because this is digital content, by asking for immediate access you agree that the statutory 14-day withdrawal right ends when access is delivered. See the access & withdrawal policy.

Does completing a module give CME credits?

The complete program issues a MEDSMITH certificate of completion with the hours studied. Whether your national body accepts it towards continuing education depends on local rules — we are happy to provide the syllabus for your application.

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Revision log — Vol. 1 · 2026

Recorded material goes out of date. Lessons are re-recorded when a classification or guideline changes; everyone with active access receives the revised lesson at no charge, and the casebook's revised editions are sent for 24 months after purchase.

  • 2026 · Q3
    Module 06 — lectures 18–19 revised for HER2-low reporting; new worked NGS report added to lecture 11.
  • 2026 · Q2
    Module 05 — endometrial lectures 13–15 aligned with the current molecular classification flowchart; report templates updated.
  • 2026 · Q2
    Casebook — chapter 4 (thoracic) extended by four small-biopsy cases; corrections to two staging tables in chapter 1.
  • 2026 · Q1
    Module 01 — lesson 13 (remote sign-out) re-recorded for current display and regulatory requirements.
  • 2026 · Q1
    Vol. 1 published — seven modules, casebook and atlas released; study plan and departmental enrolment introduced.

Found an error in a lesson or the casebook? Write to training@medsmith.pl — corrections are credited in the next revision.

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Correspondence

Not sure which module to start with?

Tell us your role and what you report most often. We reply by email within 24 hours on working days — training@medsmith.pl.

Write to us