The Slide Culture

Abstract
Any well-rounded training program in dermatology must include the study of mycology. A method which enables the resident to grasp the important aspects of the subject and yet conserve valuable time should be a welcome tool. The usual approach in the study of mycology appears to be the use of lectures with teaching aids, such as photographs and actual observations of cultures and culture mounts. The importance of microscopic studies of the organisms is magnified by the marked variation of colony growth on ordinary media, particularly by the dermatophytes. The inherent difficulty of finding diagnostic structures on fresh culture mounts needs little discussion. Fragility of many of the structures, as well as large numbers of nondiagnostic features, tends to detract from the usefulness of ordinary culture mounts, and tends to make this a difficult and time-consuming method of teaching. The slide culture has been used by mycologists and dermatologists for many years.1-3 However, a recent effort to locate references to this method of culture revealed a scarcity of material to help in setting up such a program. The method to be presented here is similar in many respects to that of Henrici1; however, certain variations in technique have been found helpful. It is actually a very simple procedure, yet quite valuable as a method for preparing mounts to be used in conjunction with the traditional methods of teaching.