From the President’s Desk

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It’s important to embrace innovation, and just as important to honor things that have worked well in the past. Most sustainable change is iterative, building on something we knew before. When we look to innovation for a total transformation, we risk disregarding or dishonoring the past. There is a lot of collective wisdom we can carry with us. At the CAP, we are looking at innovation as something that helps us learn from what we’ve done before, without tossing away the foundations of where we came from. We aim to understand things better; to get more clarity, more precision, and more accuracy. Among pathologists, that is a very old tradition. It will carry us forward and serve us well as we look to do things in more efficient and more patient-centered ways.

One of our goals at the CAP is to create space for innovation—and for the failures that will occasionally happen as a result of that. We need to carve out room for creativity and to develop an appetite to try new things that may fail, understanding that when failure is done well we can still learn from it.

This kind of approach will help us face the new challenges and opportunities that arise from innovation. I have heard from many pathologists lately who worry about digital pathology and fear the introduction of AI-based tools into our laboratories. Just like the pathologists who believed IHC would put us out of a job, today the concern is that AI will put us out of a job. I am confident we will never be in the position of simply verifying a computer’s “diagnosis.” Only physicians can make a diagnosis. And if augmenting our diagnostic process with AI gives us more to give our patients, what’s to fear about that? Some worry about being diminished by this technology, but I believe we have the opportunity to be enhanced by it—to do our jobs better and to become even more important to every patient we serve.

When it comes to concepts like AI and digital pathology, the CAP is the place where pathologists can turn to learn more about these concepts, where we can overcome the feeling of intimidation and empower ourselves with information. Courses on how these technologies can be woven into our practices will be among the many offerings at our meeting in New Orleans this September, and it will be an ongoing focus in our publications.

If you are interested in getting involved in this and other important conversations at the CAP, I encourage you to consider applying to join one of our many councils and committees. I assure you that innovation at the CAP will not be exclusive to our new council. We’re not just looking for technophile early adopters; we also need participation from pathologists who look to the CAP to be stable and steady in a changing landscape. As we celebrate the CAP’s 75th year, we need to ensure that our approach to innovation is sufficiently sustainable and thoughtful to support our next 75 years.

Dr. Volk welcomes communication from CAP members. Write to her at president@cap.org.