I am a candidate for the College of American Pathologists' Board of Governors. Please share with me your health care thoughts, questions, and concerns that involve pathology or laboratory medicine

Dear all,

The College of American Pathologists will elect new members of its Board of Governors in July.  I am a candidate to serve on the Board; a brief statement of my vision is below.

If I have the honor of being elected, I can best serve by being as well informed as possible about all aspects of medical care that interact with pathology and the laboratory (and ultimately, most do!).  Please share with me your health care thoughts, questions, and concerns that involve, or might involve, any area of pathology and laboratory medicine, so that, if elected, I can serve as knowledgeably as possible.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Tim Allen, M.D., J.D.

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These next several years promise to be challenging ones for medicine generally, and pathology in particular.  If I am fortunate enough to be elected to serve on the College of American Pathologists' Board of Governors, I would incorporate my training and experience to assist my fellow Board members in directing the College during these dynamic times, including in educating our patients and their families about the enormous value pathology and laboratory medicine provides--about who we are and what we do, and the significant benefits pathologists provide patients in terms of patient safety and health care quality, specifically diagnostic accuracy. 

The diagnostic accuracy that pathologist provide--for blood tests, tissue biopsy diagnosis, blood transfusion compatibility, and many other patient needs--is little discussed but extraordinarily important--it is the underpinning of essentially all medical care.  From diabetic blood sugar monitoring to molecular characterization of cancers, the pathologist--a physician with expertise in disease diagnosis and laboratory functioning--has the responsibility of ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of those disease diagnoses and laboratory findings.

The Board is likely to face several interrelated imperatives, including integrating of pathologists into today's changing medical environment, successfully embracing new technologies, further engaging with the international medical community, and meeting the growing training challenges for medical students and residents.  

Resident training is extremely important.  The College will need to continue to work closely with our non-pathologist physician colleagues, administrators, the ACGME, policymakers, and payers to integrate increased degrees of resident responsibility into training programs in order to ensure the continued provision of high-quality, superiorly-trained pathologists to meet future patients' pathology and laboratory medicine needs.  

To succeed, we must simply remain our patients' advocates.  Specifically, the College should embrace patients and patient advocacy groups more directly to best ensure their heath care needs continue to be met as medicine undergoes its many changes.  Because pathologists are not typically involved with patients in face-to-face encounters as their treating physician colleagues are, many patients and their families are unfamiliar with the pathologist's role in their care.  Social media can assist pathologists in spreading the word.

We have the professional responsibility, and ethical responsibility, to engage like never before to ensure that our patients receive quality health care in a safe environment.