Transcription

• Elizabeth McMahon

  It's a wrap for the House of Delegates and Pathologists Leadership Summit. We share some highlights, plus a blood cancer that starts with an identity crisis. These stories and more next. This is the Path News Network Daily Edition from the College of American Pathologists. I'm Elizabeth McMahon. It's Wednesday, April 29th. It's been an action-packed few days in the nation's capital, but for pathologists... All eyes were on the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Capitol Hill. That's where the House of Delegates and Pathologists Leadership Summit wrapped up yesterday for more than 200 attendees after a fruitful four days. Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report kicked off the summit with a keynote address laying out the political landscape. She urged pathologists to make their case personal in high-stakes conversations on the Hill.

• Amy Walter

  The most important thing I think you can do when it comes to advocacy see. is to put a face to the topic, to be able to make the case, not just from a statistical standpoint, but from a human standpoint.

• Elizabeth McMahon

  From leadership development sessions to debates about pathology's digital future and mock meetings with congressional staff, the summit prepped pathologists for advocacy. Dr. Justin Wells, Division Chief of Pathology and Labs at Inova Health System in Virginia, used skills he learned. at the 2025 HOD PLS to push an anti-steering bill with other pathologists to protect patient care. After a win, he was back this year to learn more.

• Dr. Justin Wells

  I went and actually got the sponsorship from the state senator and talked to him and convinced him to take it. And it got passed just a couple weeks ago, which is really exciting. And so it really showed the value of what I can learn here and how I can take it and actually affect. all of what we do in pathology and laboratory medicine.

• Elizabeth McMahon

  Armed with what they learned at the summit, pathologists fanned out across the hill yesterday with key policy priorities for congressional staff, including Medicare payment reform, help to address the physician workforce shortage, and fair laboratory and pathology service reimbursement. Dr. Elizabeth Conner, a Residence Forum Executive Committee delegate to the HOD, said the D.C. summit was an essential training ground you for moving the profession forward.

• Dr. Elizabeth Conner

  I've always heard that you want to be at the table to be able to help influence decisions, and I think getting involved early on in our careers is really critical because we're really kind of shaping the future. Our careers, we're starting out, and I think all of these decisions that are being made will directly affect us.

• Elizabeth McMahon

  Find highlights from each day of the HOD PLS Summit at the CAP's YouTube channel and in the special edition HOD PLS newsletter in your inbox. Anatomic vs. Clinical, Private vs. Community vs. Academic Practice. With so many choices to make in pathology before you even earn a salary, one size certainly doesn't fit all. A new CAP webinar on May 12th will explore the shifting landscape of private practice with practitioners and leaders who are in the thick of it. Dr. Megan Cressin, a webinar panelist and pathologist with the Austin, Texas-based Oculus Pathology Group, started her career. in academic pathology, but says she found her sweet spot in the fast pace of private practice within hospitals.

• Dr. Megan Kressin

  In private practice, really, you are there at the whim of the ORs, at the whim of your surgeons, and the flexibility just isn't there. I'm always balancing phone calls and writing reports and doing frozen sections, and when I am working, I am on the whole time.

• Elizabeth McMahon

  Dr. Cressin emphasizes that running a private practice entails challenges and skills that aren't covered in med school and residency, including navigating a changing and challenging business and hiring environment. A new 2025 CAP Practice Leader Survey reported that just 39 percent of pathologists were part of pathologist-owned practices.

• Dr. Megan Kressin

  I think that new pathologists coming out are maybe looking for different things than we were years ago. Certainly salary expectations are significantly higher, which is hard when you're in a private practice that is tied to decreasing reimbursements every year and everyone is looking for higher salaries because there's a higher cost of living. That is a hard balance for us, for sure.

• Elizabeth McMahon

  You can learn more about the one-hour seminar and register to attend by clicking the link on the CAP calendar of events. Can cells have an identity crisis as they develop? Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine think that's what happens with cells that become Hodgkin lymphoma cancer. In findings reported this month in the Blood Cancer Journal, a team led by Weill Cornell pathologist... Dr. Ethel Cesarman frames the cancer as that of failed cell development rather than uncontrolled growth. B cells should mature into plasma cells that produce antibodies to fight infection. But in Hodgkin lymphoma, the transition gets stuck and the B cells don't mature as they should, instead surviving as malignant Hodgkin lymphoma cells. The blood cancer is the most common in adolescents aged 15 to 19. The team hopes the findings could lead to new diagnostic biomarkers to help distinguish Hodgkin lymphomas among other blood cancers. And finally, have you ever looked under the microscope and thought, this bone marrow biopsy looks like snowflakes, or this parotid gland rivals the best art I've seen at MoMA? If this sounds familiar, chances are you're a promising path art artist. While there are many pathology and medical art contests out there, The CAP's hashtag PathArt contest gives your winning image several places to shine, including on the annual CAP calendar and our social media platforms. April's winner is Dr. Cullen Lilley of UCLA Health, whose colorful image of colonic mucosa is stained with alcein blue. Are you a Path artist in the making? Check out the guidelines and submission form at the link in our show notes. Winners are selected by the Digital Content Committee. That's all for today's Daily Edition. Be sure to check the show notes for more information on today's stories. Got a story you'd like us to cover on the Daily Edition? Write to us at stories at cap.org. We're back at 5 a.m. Eastern for another episode of the Daily Edition. I'm Elizabeth McMahon. Have a great day.