March 12, 2021
Dear Colleagues of the CAPA,
It is my distinct privilege and honor to serve as the incoming President of the Chinese American Pathologists Association (CAPA). Our wonderful organization exists to provide members with educational opportunities, improve our professional skills, and to help us collaborate and participate within the pathology community. During my term, I hope to help make CAPA even more effective in serving you.
Every member of CAPA has a unique story to tell. My journey as a Chinese American pathologist working and living in this great country may be different from yours, but we are all nurtured by the best of both eastern and western cultures and have CAPA membership in common. As I grew in my career, CAPA provided me with inspiration, energy, mentors, contacts and friends. Let us work together to ensure that CAPA continues to be a respectful, inclusive, collaborative and inspiring presence in our professional lives.
What can we accomplish together? My visions for 2021-2022 include four themes:
- Assess: We need to better understand our members’ needs, interests, and values. I have communicated with many members and will continue to do so, along with the rest of the leadership team, to understand your concerns and aspirations.
- Engage: Let’s involve as many members as possible in our initiatives and activities. The roster of our committees will be published at the end of April. Please do not wait to be contacted to join a committee – let me know your interests and I will match you with an opportunity to contribute and shine.
- Empower: CAPA will work best if leaders are empowered to improve our organization. I will work with the leadership team to develop a shared strategy, so that everyone understands where we are going and feels free to make changes that promote our strategy. Together, we will evaluate existing committees and programs for their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities, and identify future leaders to develop.
- Nurture: In addition to providing education, CAPA can provide its members with leadership experience, with friendship, and can help foster habits that promote well-being. We can help our members connect with leaders in other societies, opening doors that help advance careers. Let’s help make our members all that they can be.
During the upcoming year, CAPA will continue and improve on its successful educational activities, including the Annual Diagnostic Course, Annual Meeting during USCAP, CAPA-CHCAMS Annual Summit, Online Education Program, and special articles to the Archives and Laboratory Medicine. We will continue to share information on the CAPA website, WeChat, and through newsletters and email. We will continue to partner with Digital Pathology Association (DPA) so that CAPA joins DPA as an allied society member, DPA makes our Online Education Program part of the DPA Digital Anatomic Pathology Academy, and CAPA members enjoy access to information about digital pathology and artificial intelligence. In the upcoming months, CAPA will charge a bylaws committee in response to the members wishes to update the current bylaws.
In addition, we will be looking at whether some exciting pilot projects should be expanded:
- A pilot project led by Dr. Xiuli Liu uses a peer-to-peer support model to members discover their inner strengths, develop leadership skills, promote wellness and cultivate long-lasting friendships through personal interactions. Could this be the cradle of a new leadership academy that will build a pipeline for future leaders of CAPA or pathology community? Could this be the beginning of a CAPA wellness institute that makes for happier pathologists and people. I hope so!
- A pilot project led by Dr. Shi Wei — the Curbside Consult of Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology — discusses challenging, rare, or interesting cases via a Zoom meeting using an interfaced digital camera. In addition to providing education, this activity fosters collaboration and friendship among CAPA members. Perhaps this initiative will serve as a template for other interactive distance learning opportunities in pathology subspecialties.
- A CAPA group is working to connect CAPA members with the College of American Pathologists (CAP). The CAP interest group on WeChat is led by Dr. Jim Zhai. Our members are informed by peers about the CAP House of Delegates, various committees, lab inspections, practice guidelines, and many more educational and professional development opportunities.
The CAPA 2021 Annual Meeting on March 13 marks the transition of the CAPA leadership team. Words cannot express my respect and gratitude to Dr. Lanjing Zhang and the 2020-2021 leadership team. We have been well served! Please also join me in welcoming CAPA 2021-2022 Board of Directors: Drs. Jie Song, Xin Han, Shaoxiong Chen, Shimin Hu, Zaibo Li (Treasurer), Larry Wang, Xiangdong Xu and Xiaohui Zhang. I am also excited about members who will serve on the incoming Executive Committee and as leaders of CAPA committees – names that will be shared with you after approval by the Board.
Spring is such a beautiful time of the year. This year, as the country pulls out of COVID-19 pandemic, Spring is a time of particular promise. I look forward to a bright future for our association and our members.
Sincerely yours,
Marilyn M. Bui, MD, PhD
CAPA President (2021-2022)
