A year ago, the ASCP Pathologist Council embarked on developing a set of strategic goals under the leadership of Council Chair Deborah Sesok-Pizzini, MD, FASCP. The three major areas focused on providing mentoring and professional development to those early in their practice; expanded pathology specialty outreach; and developing concepts around work-life balance and collegial professional relationships.
With the workforce shortage a top priority for ASCP, the Pathologist Council sought to address this by organizing two podcast roundtables. The first podcast, held in July, focused on visa status for pathologists from other countries. A second one is coming up later this fall.
“Embracing a more international workforce is one approach to keeping and retaining talent,” says Dr. Sesok-Pizzini, reflecting on the Council’s achievements over the past year. “This was very well attended and included practical advice on obtaining a J-1 physician visa waiver.” The Exchange Visitor (J) non-immigrant visa category is for individuals approved to participate in work- and study-based exchange visitor programs.
Dr. Sesok-Pizzini says the experience serving as the Council chair has been fulfilling. “I had the opportunity to work with colleagues from many different backgrounds and talents while engaging with other ASCP members to advance our mission. Some of these goals, like workforce development, do overlap with other councils, while others may be more unique to a specific member segment. This experience gave me the ability to appreciate the bigger vision of ASCP as an inclusive organization for all pathology professionals from administrators to laboratory professionals, to residents, to pathologists.”
Although the Council has not yet completed all of its goals, it can use the strategic goals it developed as a roadmap for the future. “I am immensely proud of our team for raising some long-standing issues that were not discussed before, such as the visa status for international pathologists, and the challenges of dealing with diagnostic errors, especially for those new in practice,” says Dr. Sesok-Pizzini. “We have more work to do, and as we welcome new team members and council leaders, I am certain they will also provide additional insights.”
New members are always welcome and are recruited through referrals from other council members and through ASCP announcements. There is an election process, and the proposed council member will need to present a bio and a description of their interest in joining the council. “It is a wonderful experience to work with different colleagues from various pathology specialties and practices,” she says. “Although prior engagement in ASCP is a plus, no experience on a previous ASCP committee is needed, just a willing heart and spirit to create innovative ideas, share experiences, and work on team goals.”
Interested in becoming more engaged in the Pathologist Council? Please contact ASCP Senior Director of Membership Natalie Sherry at Natalie.sherry@ascp.org.
