Preview: CAP House of Delegates and Pathologists Leadership Summit 2025

Robert Johnson:

Magnifying the voice of membership in Washington, DC, members of the College of American Pathologists House of Delegates plan to visit the nation's capitol in April. Pathologists from across the US will gather in Washington DC in April to discuss important policy issues impacting their practice and their patients. It's all part of the College of American Pathologists Annual House of Delegates and Pathologist Leadership Summit from April 26th through the 29th. Dr. Sang Wu is the speaker of the CAP House of Delegates. He says delegates are ready to make their voices heard.

Dr. Sang Wu:

Well, we're really excited. The House of Delegates' Steering Committee has been actively preparing for our spring meeting and in recent years, our Spring House delegates meeting is held in conjunction with the Pathologists Leadership Summit, and we've been meeting in Washington DC and we felt like there's really great synergy between the House and mission of having a pathologist leadership summit and really gathering all of our leaders, all of our delegates, engaged pathologists in Washington DC to make a change for the better. We want to be able to advocate for pathologists, and we are right there in DC where all the action happens. In the past few years, we've had very successful events in the house. We've had all time high membership attendance, both in person and virtually, and this year we are looking forward to very much the same thing and hopefully an even greater presence, even encouraging more people to be able to join us in DC.

Robert Johnson:

Let's talk a little bit about the agenda. What are some of the highlights that attendees can expect when they come here in April?

Dr. Sang Wu:

Our House of Delegates' steering committee has prepared actively and looking for the most timely topics that are relevant for pathologists today. Everybody who's in full-time practice, who practicing pathologists, we've done surveys throughout recent meetings and our survey, our entire delegations, and the most timely and most relevant topics are ones which we bring forth as panel discussions with expert panelists, folks who have great in-depth knowledge on most timely issues that are relevant to all pathologists today. And what's risen to the top are two topics which have been very important and I know will be very relevant. One is the advent of artificial intelligence within our field of pathology. We know that AI is a large part of many different industries, and we're starting to see that in pathology as well, where what's previously been kind of under the microscope where you're making diagnoses through a light microscope is now transitioning towards digital pathology.

And digital pathology is now transitioning towards the help of artificial intelligence in helping us be better at what we do. So we'll have an expert panel discussing some of the fascinating possibilities of how artificial intelligence and machine learning can help us as pathologists in the future. And our second topic is also very relevant and timely, and that is the scope of practice for pathologists. We know that all different medical subspecialties have challenges in this area where our scope of practice on what we do sometimes gets infringed upon, gets challenged, and sometimes there's a blurring of lines as to what we do as pathologists. So some of this scope creep happens in between different medical specialties. Some of it happens between us and other organizations and folks who are at different levels of training, including pathology assistants, PhDs in laboratory medicine now. So this is, I believe, a very relevant and timely topic as to how pathologists should protect the type of work that we do, and also ensure that our scope of practice is well-defined and one that is kind of focused only upon pathologists where we know we are qualified and well-trained, and that we're adequately protecting our scope of practice, which is at times being challenged.

Robert Johnson:

How many times have you come to this meeting over the course of your work as a pathologist?

Dr. Sang Wu:

Boy, this has got to be over 10 years of both attending the spring and the fall meetings, and we've really seen a steady growth in interest in participation, and also in enthusiasm amongst all of our delegates. Our House's mission is to be the voice of the membership. We hold fast to that. We hold steadfast to this important mission and to be able to really amplify this voice, our PLS and our spring meeting offers a perfect platform for everybody to get together, stay engaged, and really represent pathologists as the voice of the membership.

Robert Johnson:

Having attended this meeting several times, then, what are you looking forward to the most about this gathering this April?

Dr. Sang Wu:

We have an opportunity to be able to meet familiar friends, to meet colleagues, and to get together. The networking opportunity is just, it can't be overemphasized, so we always meet folks who we see regularly. We get a chance to be able to meet CAP leadership pathologists who are engaged, who are leaders within our field. But one of the more exciting aspects is also to meet new faces and new friends. Almost every meeting we've got new delegates who are attending for the first time. We always want to make them feel welcomed and almost across the board, every delegate who's attended, especially our spring meeting, to be there in Washington DC to attend our meeting and to have the opportunity to participate in our Hill Day, to talk to our legislators, to be on Capitol Hill. That's really a once in a lifetime, a very memorable experience for anybody who participates.

It's part of being American. It brings you to a real sense of what it means to be an American, to be able to speak directly to folks whom you've elected. And so oftentimes in my early years, there was a level of intimidation and trepidation as to is it okay to just walk into Capitol Hill, just to visit your elected leaders and your representatives and also your senators? There's some reluctance and just not sure what's going to happen. But I tell you, every single time I've been on Capitol Hill, the experience has been phenomenal. You can't feel that many times we're able to express exactly what we want, all of our assets as pathologists. It's an educational process where we're really educating our elected officials as to the value of what we do, the importance of pathology within the House of medicine, the importance of diagnostics, the importance of getting the right diagnosis for the right treatment, and it's just a sense of educating your legislators so when the time comes and they're making decisions about pathology, about reimbursement, then our voice is heard and they'd recognize our value.

Robert Johnson:

Before we go, give us your last and final pitch to members who might be listening to this thinking, well, why should I take time away from the practice, away from the lab to come to DC to be a part of this? What do you say to them?

Dr. Sang Wu:

All of us as pathologists, we want to make a difference, and we choose pathology for different reasons. When we go through all of our medical school training and residencies and such, we're able to experience and we come to our profession with a sense of pride, with a sense of love for what we do. I myself am very proud to be a pathologist. It's probably one of the best decisions I've made. We choose this field because we love it, and we want it to continue to survive and thrive, and we want our profession to be well recognized, well compensated, and well valued. For that to happen, we really have to do a lot of educating and really have to speak for ourselves. We're only 2% of all doctors, so we're a small specialty, but we're vital and an important specialty, and for that message to carry across, I really would encourage everybody to take upon this opportunity to be able to be in Washington DC and make a difference for our field. It's just an experience you want to take part in, and it gives you a real sense of pride.

Robert Johnson:

You can join the CAP House of Delegates and Pathologists Leadership Summit using the link in the show notes for the College of American Pathologists. This is Robert Johnson. Have a great day.