Dr. Julianne Szczepanski Advocates Foundation Support

I’m Dr. Julianne Szczepanski, junior member director of the CAP Foundation. I hope we had the chance to meet during the 2021 Fall Residents Forum Meeting and CAP21, when I spoke to early-career pathologists, residents, and medical students about what the CAP Foundation can do for you and the specialty, as well as what pathologists and the Foundation can do together to improve the health of our patients everywhere.

Julianne Szczepanski, MD

Pathology, as a nearly two-year pandemic has shown the world, remains at the center of modern medicine and will continue to be one of the most essential specialties impacting patient care. However, at one point or another many of us didn’t know about pathology’s key role in health care nor its robust career options—and many in medical schools across the US don’t realize that either. For me as a medical student, it took a few introductions and experiences with the specialty before it really clicked with me.

Coming from a background in engineering, I was a problem solver—it’s what I thrived on and enjoyed doing, but I also knew I wanted a career in medicine to directly impact the lives of others through their health care. However, I was struggling to find my place in the house of medicine.

Thankfully, I spoke with an advisor about my interests and experience, and they suggested I might like speaking to a few pathologists. I took the advice, and from then on, I knew what I wanted to do. Now, as the junior member director on the CAP Foundation’s Board of Directors, it seems like a long time ago that I was searching for a place in the medical field.

As we can all attest, pathology is full of expert, passionate practitioners who care about not only their patients, but their specialty and its future. By supporting the CAP Foundation and its mission, we can continue to better serve our patients and create great leaders of tomorrow for the specialty.

Simply put, the CAP Foundation’s mission is to improve people’s health. We approach that mission in two ways:

• By developing tomorrow’s pathology leaders through awards for advanced training, research, and education, and
• By mobilizing pathologists to expand health equity in medically underserved communities within the US and globally.

We complete our first objective by connecting early-career pathologists, residents, and medical students with leadership, education, and experience opportunities through our grants and awards. For example, 10 medical students were able to attend the CAP21 annual meeting at little or no cost thanks to the Medical Student Travel Award. We encourage anyone interested to learn more about our specific awards.

The second objective is achieved via the CAP Foundation’s humanitarian program, See, Test & Treat. This year, the Foundation is celebrating 10 years of over 100 See, Test & Treat programs, which have provided free cervical and breast cancer screening to over 7,000 women in underserved communities across the US. By year’s end, the Foundation will have partnered with various institutions to host another 13 programs, providing another thousand patients with life-saving preventative care.

If you’re interested in making a direct impact on your community while also shining a spotlight on the work of pathologists, Junior Members are eligible to apply for a See, Test & Treat grant. So, talk with your colleagues and department heads to become the CAP Foundation’s newest partners in pathologist-led community care.

In addition to celebrating the 10th anniversary of See, Test & Treat, the Foundation is also hosting the Empowering Our Future capital campaign, which will ensure another 10 years of ground-breaking programs. If you can, please consider making a donation and help us to spread the word. We’ve officially reached our significant $2 million goal, and, with your help, I feel we can surpass it.

As pathologists, we are advancing medicine—today and tomorrow. By supporting the future of the CAP Foundation, we will help secure the future of the pathology.

Julianne Szczepanski, MD
Junior Member Director
CAP Foundation