223: You Don’t Need a Scanner to Start Digital Pathology ACVP Podcast

Send us Fan Mail You don't need a fancy scanner, a huge budget, or a computational background to get started in digital pathology. That's what I told the ACVP podcast — and I meant it. In this episode, I share my full digital pathology journey: from being completely intimidated by scanners during residency, to building a career that combines toxicologic pathology, image analysis, and remote work at a global CRO. If you're a resident, a trainee, or even a seasoned pathologist who hasn't fully stepped into the digital space yet — this one's for you. We talked about practical ways to get started, what foundation models actually mean for our daily work, how to build a team when implementing digital pathology at your institution, and why change management might be the most underestimated skill in this whole process. What we cover: [00:00] My background — from veterinary school in Poland to digital pathology [03:22] Why I chose industry over academia, and what that transition looked like [05:02] How a simple IHC side project became my entry point into digital pathology [07:11] How digital slides helped me pass my boards — and fall back in love with histopathology [10:24] My first job at a digital pathology image analysis company [12:00] What my current role at Charles River Laboratories looks like day-to-day [13:53] The best free resources for trainees to start exploring digital slides RIGHT NOW [15:26] Why pathologists need to understand image analysis principles — segmentation, classification, object detection [19:31] Foundation models, transformer architecture, and why annotation bottlenecks may soon be a thing of the past [24:13] Practical advice for institutions implementing digital pathology — equipment, teams, and managing resistance to change [27:30] How I unplug: trail running, weight training, and pathology-themed earrings Resources & Links: Joint Pathology Center (JPC) digital slides: Davis Thompson Foundation — Noah Slidebox: QuPath (free, open-source image analysis): Digital Pathology Place: Watch the full conversation on YouTube: Support the show Get the "Digital Pathology 101" FREE E-book and join us!

You can listen to 223: You Don’t Need a Scanner to Start Digital Pathology ACVP Podcast online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

223: You Don’t Need a Scanner to Start Digital Pathology ACVP Podcast is an episode from Digital Pathology Podcast by Aleksandra Zuraw, DVM, PhD.

This episode is 15:55 long.

This episode was published on Apr 8, 2026.

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