Leadership Development Awards Identify and Support Promising Residents

See, Test & Treat began with a concept that turned the standard model on its head.

What if the term health care delivery were interpreted literally?

What if an all-star team were to launch a one-day, culturally sensitive, preventive medicine push that hop-scotched over barriers to care in isolated patient communities?

And what if challenges that day were seen as opportunities for that team to connect, consult, and brainstorm solutions on the fly?

See, Test & Treat is about locally driven, dynamic, and durable change. Pathologists volunteer because they see a need—problem solving is in their DNA. Within the CAP, support for that problem solving speaks to our mission.

Which is why Alvin M. Ring, MD, FCAP, a member of the CAP Foundation Grants Committee, had been looking forward to reviewing applications for the committee’s Leadership Development Awards. Dr. Ring had been asked to select three winners from among eight finalists, each of whom would be funded to attend a major conference.

An emeritus member and CAP Foundation director from Illinois who has taught and mentored residents for decades, Dr. Ring knows what a future leader looks like. After an hour with those applications, however, he had eliminated exactly none. In the end, he donated $5,000 from his own family’s charitable fund to the CAP Foundation so that no one would be turned away.

Shortly afterward, David A. Cohen, MD, an AP/CP resident at Houston Methodist Hospital, learned that he had made the cut. Solid choice: Dr. Cohen had been a volunteer for See, Test & Treat since his first year of residency. He was involved in the CAP’s Residents Forum as a former delegate and is secretary for the Residents Forum Executive Committee. He also had served on his hospital’s House Staff Council.

Dr. Cohen has a passionate commitment to See, Test & Treat. “Cervical cancer is preventable!” he firmly says. Explaining to patients what their results mean is a natural fit for a lot of pathology residents, he points out. A significant number are multilingual, a sought-after skill when many patients do not speak English.

When Dr. Cohen describes the value of a same-day turnaround for cytology results, which allows for same-day therapeutic procedures and reduces the likelihood that patients will be lost to follow-up, his sense of ownership is tangible. “Pathologists are really good at making sure things get done,” he says. “And they want pathology to be a specialty where they can be part of a multidisciplinary team. If more residents knew about See, Test & Treat, I’m sure they would do it.”

All of which confirms Dr. Ring’s reputation for an intuition about people. He knows the markers of leadership: commitment, pragmatism, generosity, energy. And he recognizes the qualities of those who will solve, build, innovate—and give back.