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Impact for Life: The Power of Mentorship
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July 15, 2026
Taking action. CAP members make their voices heard on a federal proposal to alter research, grant funding, and peer review. Plus, teacher, life coach, and friend. How mentors make an impact and where you can find the right one for your career stage. This is Path News Network Daily Edition from the College of American Pathologists. I'm Nancy Johnson. It's Wednesday, July 15th.
Nancy JohnsonNearly 200 CAP members submitted comments responding to the Office of Management and Budgets proposal to alter grant review and funding decisions. Before the open comment period expired Monday night, more than 300,000 comments had been registered. The proposal would place politically appointed reviewers in positions of authority over peer-reviewed funding decisions and decrease the value of external peer review. It would also allow agencies to terminate research funding at any time based on shifting political priorities. The rule puts limits on how researchers use federal funds for publications, communications, and conference participation. It could take at least a year for the OMB to respond to the comments and amend the draft. If finalized, opponents say it will likely be challenged in court. Check out the CAP's Action Center under the Advocacy tab on the homepage to weigh in on other legislative priorities. Contract negotiations. It's a skill you may not have learned in training, but it's critical for demonstrating the value of pathology services to a healthcare organization. If you're a practice leader who must navigate and lead contract negotiations with the hospital system, an August 4th webinar will give you practical guidance for approaching negotiations confidently. The interactive round table will include a pathology practice leader, a health system executive, and healthcare attorneys who will offer their perspectives on the process. You'll learn how to avoid common pitfalls and recognize compliance considerations. If you're facing a contract renewal, the webinar will prepare you for your discussions and how to use benchmarking, performance metrics, and market data in negotiations. Go to events on the CAP homepage to learn more and register. Mentors, they are essential partners as you grow in your pathology career. From the early overwhelming years of residency onward, a good mentor can be a trusted advisor, teacher, and friend. Dr. Marisa Saint Martin, director of transfusion medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, will never forget one of her first mentors.
Dr. Marisa Saint MartinDr. Greg Chafik, now a retired liver pathologist, brilliant man, who basically taught me lessons in what is correct and what is incorrect in pathology. And that was in regards to some interviews that I was doing in which I didn't think I was treated fairly. And he told me, you need to decline that job. And I'm like, but I don't have any other jobs. So and he's like, yeah, but you cannot go into a place in which you know already that you're not going to be treated uh fairly and respected as a pathologist.
Nancy JohnsonMentorship will take center stage during two fireside chats at CAP 26 on October 4th. The sessions will feature personal reflections on how mentors shape careers, and it will explore practical ways to cultivate meaningful mentoring relationships, including through the CAP's mentorship program. Dr. Saint Martin, who will lead one of the fireside chats, says the program connects pathologists at any age or career stage.
SpeakerYou don't have to be a junior member to need a mentor or to have someone to talk to to guide you in different decisions in life. You can be transitioning out of pathology and maybe going into retirement and need to talk to someone that has gone through that to mentor you through that, you know, transition.
Nancy JohnsonLearn more about the CAP26 fireside chats and register to attend at the annual meeting link under the events section on the CAP homepage. You can also find a link to the mentorship program in the show notes. It's a question that keeps lab leaders up at night. Who will take the reins after I retire? In a fast-moving field with an ongoing pathologist and technologist shortage, building a leadership pipeline early is essential, says Dr. Aaron Auerbach, director of the tissue repository at the Joint Pathology Center. In the latest episode of his leadership podcast, The Pathologist Playbook, Dr. Auerbach presents three strategies for succession planning, starting with structured mentorship.
Dr. Aaaron AuerbachInformal mentorship is great, but it often favors those who are already outgoing or who share similar backgrounds with current leaders. A structured program pairs high potential junior pathologists and technologists with senior leaders, setting specific goals. This means sitting down and saying, over the next six months, we are going to focus on how to build a business cause case for new capital equipment. Or we are going to focus on quality assurance management.
Nancy JohnsonDr. Auerbach emphasizes that the micro skills to be an excellent diagnostician are not the same as the macro skills you'll need to be an effective leader. One key tip delegate important projects early as learning opportunities for potential leaders.
Dr. Aaaron AuerbachYou cannot learn to lead if you are never giving up the reins. As current leaders, we need to identify discrete projects and hand them over completely to our junior staff. Let them lead a validation team for a new assay. Let them chair a committee on laboratory safety. Let them handle a vendor negotiation. Yes, they might make mistakes, but as long as patient care is not compromised, those mistakes are the most valuable tuition they will ever pay.
Nancy JohnsonDr. Auerbach's short leadership podcasts are available on CAP on Demand. Use your CAP login to access CAP on Demand, where you'll also find hundreds of other videos to fit your professional interests.
Nancy JohnsonThat's all for today's Daily Edition. Be sure to check the show notes for more information on today's stories. Got a story you'd like for us to cover on the Daily Edition? Write to us at stories at CAP.org. We're back tomorrow at 5 a.m. Eastern for another episode of the Daily Edition. I'm Nancy Johnson. Have a great day.