CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
Our estimable CAP staff invented the “Pathologists are Groovy” campaign to interest medical students in pathology. The AMA hosts an annual career fair for medical students at which every participating specialty has a table. “Pathologists are Groovy” (www.cap.org/residents) was created to draw medical students to our booth, where they might be persuaded to sign up for the CAP Medical Student Forum. “Pathologists are Groovy” caught on fast and grew to include posters, buttons, and lava lamps. I wear my button everywhere (I suppose even presidents can be groovy). And, astonishingly, strangers everywhere comment on the button. “There goes the groovy pathologist,” they say.
The CAP New-in-Practice Committee (NIPC) was formed in January 2009 to foster community among new-in-practice pathologists by sharing lessons learned and opportunities claimed. The first big NIPC project, MyMOC, is an educational planning tool for pathologists boarded since Maintenance of Certification came into effect. The NIPC has produced two webinars for pathologists entering practice and is releasing two more this summer. It has an ambitious agenda. (We invest concretely in our new fellows also. CAP membership fees are waived for 12 months after junior members pass their boards and become fellows; second- and third-year fellows pay half.)
Inclusion is woven into the College’s fabric. Science moves forward today at a breakneck pace, and bright new pathologists joining our ranks embrace every bit of it. Each generation brings energy and intuition, enriching the conversation. Educational opportunities are valuable benefits of CAP membership, but the learning needs of newly minted pathologists extend beyond the science. For residents, fellows, and new-in-practice pathologists, the College most importantly fosters critical skills in communication, practice management, and political and professional advocacy.
Mark Synovec, MD, who co-chairs the AMA Molecular Pathology Coding Workgroup, is a former member of the Residents Forum executive committee. At his first Residents Forum meeting, the director of the CAP Washington office presented a talk on political advocacy. What Dr. Synovec gained from that first meeting, he says now, was connection; it focused and reset his professional priorities. He realized that excellent surgical pathology skills alone would not guarantee a living. For the first time, he thought about his practice as a business venture. Dr. Synovec went on to become one of the first resident members of what is now our CAP Economic Affairs Committee, and later its chair.
Dr. Synovec tells a great story about a moment during residency that captured, for him, the nature of community within the CAP. In 1990, Dr. Synovec’s family joined him at a Residents Forum reception; when they arrived, he was speaking with Loyd R. Wagner, MD, who was the CAP president that year. Mark’s two-year-old daughter (now a medical student) might have been bored; she decided to feed Dr. Wagner, offering a pretzel from a nearby bowl. Dr. Wagner, for his part, never skipped a beat. At the time, Mark says, it was the most natural thing in the world.
Dr. Robboy welcomes communication from CAP members. Send your letters to him at president@cap.org.