From the President’s Desk: Our first Leadership Summit

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Patrick Godbey, MD

February 2020—Regular readers of CAP TODAY know I believe that it is extremely important for CAP members to become politically active. The upcoming Pathologists Leadership Summit, which will take place May 2–5 in Washington, DC, will give you the opportunity to do so. If you haven’t registered already, I encourage you to consider attending this special event.

Dr. Godbey

The Pathologists Leadership Summit is new for the CAP. It is replacing our annual policy meeting focused on government advocacy. CAP leaders made this change to be able to provide attendees with even more benefit. The summit will combine our House of Delegates meeting with new educational courses on emerging and evolving technologies and, of course, the important policy and advocacy material. The event culminates in Hill Day, which offers CAP members an opportunity to meet their representatives, senators, and staffs on Capitol Hill.

In addition to being a great opportunity to network with other pathologists, the summit will provide you with actionable information to help you be a better and more effective leader for your laboratory and institution. Leaders have to anticipate changes needed in their practice—from new technologies to working closely with hospital administrators to implement or address regulatory and policy changes—and this event will give you the information and tools needed to do that. If you are not a leader in your lab now, the summit will help you develop the skills to become one in the future.

The event will begin with the House of Delegates meeting. You do not have to be a delegate to attend the House meeting; any member of the CAP is invited to attend. The meeting will cover a range of topics, including workload and workforce issues, that are relevant to all pathologists.

The next day’s program is focused on education, with discussions planned on such topics as state pathology societies, innovations in pathology, and evolving technologies, including digital pathology and artificial intelligence. You can also learn about strategic leadership issues like succession planning, risk management, and developing effective clinical collaborations. I have no doubt that attending these sessions will help you become a better pathologist and a better leader.