ASCP has created a robust series of education, career development and other activities for laboratory professionals, pathologists, and residents at the ASCP 2021 Annual Meeting in Boston, Oct. 27-29. This year, the ASCP 2021 Annual Meeting returns to in-person programming, in addition to a virtual event. Registered attendees also have access to a wide range of virtual sessions before the Annual Meeting.
After the Annual Meeting, attendees have the option to continue their learning for three months of full access to all recorded sessions, along with continued access to the entire virtual meeting platform by selecting the Complete Package. This translates into more than 100 credit hours of education.
Highlights include:
A Virtual Fellowship Fair—Residents can network virtually with representatives from different institutions across the country and learn about available fellowship positions to help them prepare to enter the profession. Residents can schedule direct one on one meetings with program representatives virtually during the meeting. They can browse participating programs including open fellowships. Residents will be able to access the Fellowship Fair throughout the Annual Meeting to review and download information.
Career Services Activities—Seeking to advance your careers? ASCP will present mentoring sessions and mock interviews, led by ASCP members. Mentoring sessions offer the chance to work with another professional to learn more about their field’s industry demands, career expectations, job outlooks and career opportunities. Sign up for a mentoring session or mock interview on the Career Services page through the virtual meeting platform. Participants can view the mentor and mock interviewers' biographies and schedule sessions via their personal scheduling link on the Career Services page. These half-hour sessions continue through Oct. 29.
On Oct. 27, there will be a Ted Talk titled, Salary Negotiation: Advocating for Yourself, presented by Maggie Morrissey, director of recruiting and staffing services at Lighthouse Lab Services. Ms. Morrissey will present an overview on how to advocate for yourself and ask for a raise, including timing the ask, planning the conversation and making the ask.
On Oct. 28, Edna Garcia, MPH, director of scientific engagement at ASCP, will host a Career Conversations Roundtable on Oct 28. Also on Oct. 28, there will be a
Virtual Career Fair.
Cindy Johns Lecture: The Art and Science of Hope and Altruism—ASCP Past President Melissa P. Upton, MD, FASCP, will present this session on Oct. 28, in memory of longtime ASCP volunteer Cindy Johns. It highlights the attributes of hope and altruism Ms. Johns exemplified. Dr. Upton worked closely with Ms. Johns and will discuss how cultivating these traits can enhance the lives of everyone. The talk will include recent scientific discoveries about the neuroscience of hope and altruism, and studies that compare groups of people using semi-quantitative studies.
Resident Review Series—Designed to help pathology residents prepare for their board exams, the series includes many new sessions covering challenging, high-interest topic areas.
Michelle D. Raible Lecture: The Voice of the Pathologist—Why We Must Discuss Health Equity and Social Justice in Medicine—Valerie A. Fitzhugh, MD, FASCP, will talk on Oct. 28 about how pathologists can play a role in crucial conversations around health equity and social justice. Attendees will hear examples of medical mistreatment endured by communities of color, discuss how the COVID pandemic exacerbated health disparities, and learn ways they can address these issues.
Arthur Purdy Stout: Eek! Thyroid Tumors. Newfangled Thinking About Lesions of an Old School Endocrine Organ—Peter Sadow, MD, PhD, will explain on Oct. 27 how thyroid carcinomas have been a diagnostic conundrum for decades. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common endocrine malignancy. This session will focus on “high risk” variants, such as tall cell variant, or more recently, hobnail variant, as subtypes of PTC most likely to manifest aggressive disease.
Barbara Castelberry, PhD Lecture: Cultivating the Laboratory—Walter M.Oliveira on October 29 will share tips on cultivating greater success within the laboratory.
Enhancing Patient Care Through Choosing Wisely Strategies (Virtual)—This session on Oct. 20 will recognize six individuals and clinical teams named as ASCP 2021 Choosing Wisely Champions for their commitment to the Choosing Wisely effective test utilization initiative of the ABIM Foundation. They will share their experience of implementing these efforts in their respective healthcare systems and demonstrate how attendees can do the same in their own work settings.
Engaging Patients in Cancer Genetics Research—Cancer genetics research has sought to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families, but only begun to collaborate with patients as partners in this effort. Cancer patients have a wealth of experience which can inform research and are invaluable advocates within patient communities. Alanna Church, MD, and Corrie Painter, PhD, work together on the Count Me In project at the Broad Institute and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where cancer patients share their medical information, tumor samples and experiences with researchers. On Oct. 27, both will describe the opportunities and challenges in these efforts, including reframing a traditional molecular pathology report to return research results directly to patients.
Roundtable: Protecting Your Lab in the Age of Professional Hacking: Cybersecurity Planning and Best Practices—Mark Tuthill, MD, FASCP on Oct. 28 will explain how hacking and security intrusions have gone from sporadic underground activity to a mainstream business enterprise funded by cybercriminals, governments and business entities. Security risks faced by business are more sophisticated and lethal. This round table will explore laboratory challenges and risks, and suggest best practices to improve security for laboratories.
Laboratories Critical Role in Community Medicine and Public Health Practice—On Oct. 28, Maureen Sullivan will present this session, funded by independent educational grants from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Merck Sharp and Dohme Corp., and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The past AIDS epidemic and SARS outbreak of 2003, and the current COVID pandemic, highlight the importance of effective public-private partnerships to treat, control and prevent disease outbreak and improve public health.
Roundtable Sustaining Health and Wellness in a Crazy World Course 3: Community and Societal Aspects of Wellness—Last year, many healthcare workers were told to “stay in their lane,” or to stay out of the public realm of discussing social and economic contributors to injury and illness. ASCP Past President Melissa P. Upton, MD, FASCP, and Nicole R. Jackson, MD, MPH, FASCP, will facilitation this roundtable on Oct. 28 with a brief presentation on the social and political context of "wellness and burnout," along with strategies for effective personal and professional engagement.
APF: Having Difficult Conversations Without Being Difficult—On Oct. 29, Karim Sirgi, MD, MBA, will talk about best practices and techniques to help make difficult conversations less stressful and more productive, as offer practical examples of difficult conversations with potential legal ramifications.
Immuno-Oncology: New Horizons in a Rapidly Changing World—Presented Oct. 29 by Michael C. Milone, MD, FASCP, and Michael Feldman, MD, FASCP, this session will feature two short TED-style talks on immuno-oncology with an emphasis on new technologies, along with a review of immune checkpoint blocking therapies, novel bi-specific T cell engager and genetically engineered cellular therapies.
Register for the ASCP 2021 Annual Meeting today at
ascp.org/2021.
