From the President’s Desk: The year that wouldn’t end

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Patrick Godbey, MD

December 2020—As we reach the end of December, I am taking a look back at this year and wondering: How long was 2020 anyway? My calendar says 12 months, but if you’re like me, 2020 seems like it has already had about 24 in it and I’m still counting. I’ve even taken to using “2020” as an expletive.

When I think of the key themes of the past year, most are quite negative. The pandemic, virtual meetings, and extremely challenging legislation just to name a few. In the spirit of hoping the worst is behind us—and to remind ourselves how much we worked to make the best of a bad situation—let’s take a quick tour of the major difficulties we faced in 2020.

We may as well start with COVID-19. It has challenged our labs and our community in ways we did not expect and for which we were not prepared. As I write this column, the pandemic is once again getting worse in the United States. The pressure to deliver reliable, accurate results in a short time frame has been unbelievable. Critically needed reagents, instruments, and other supplies have been scarce, and the need for testing is increasing. Pathologists were hit hard personally, with many labs forced to lay off or furlough staff members as the volume of anatomic work and routine studies greatly decreased. Many laboratory scientists and the pathologists responsible for them who were fortunate enough to keep their full-time jobs have reported high rates of burnout.

Dr. Godbey

With that said, I am proud of how our membership has responded and is responding to the pandemic. We have adapted, become creative, and answered the call. We stood up to relentless pressure to insist on the use of reliable tests when less accurate assays were more accessible or politically appealing. The value of pathologists and the laboratories we direct is now much better appreciated, and it should be.

The CAP made a tremendous effort to improve our situation during the pandemic, opening up access to dozens of online CME and SAM courses at no cost to members. The CAP went to bat with regulators and legislators, enabling remote sign-out, delaying CAP inspections, and ensuring that pathologists and the labs we direct were eligible for financial support programs. Proficiency testing programs were quickly made available. Protocols were written. www.cap.org was updated on a regular basis.

Related to COVID-19 is another theme of 2020: virtual meetings. While I enjoy getting to listen to top-notch presentations from the comfort of my own home, these remote events lose so much of what makes meetings special—whether that’s the annual CAP meeting or a weekly staff gathering at the lab. Education for our residents is simply not as helpful in an online format, and remote tumor boards are no match for in-person events. Virtual events have filled an important void, but I eagerly await the return to regular meetings and the serendipitous encounters, informative give-and-take, and collaborative work they entail.