Change. Such a simple word, but one that inspires many strong, mixed emotions... fear, excitement, anxiety, optimism, trepidation... As I write this editorial, I’m in the process of transplanting myself from the UK and into the United States – a significant move! Rest assured, I’m not abandoning The Pathologist; on the contrary, we’re expanding – and I’ve been given the incredible opportunity to set up Texere Publishing’s first US office in New York. Right now, I am all too aware of how it feels to battle with extreme and conflicting thoughts, but my overriding emotion is hope. Still, although I’m certainly going to embrace the opportunity and the prospect of professional and personal development, I do know that change can be difficult to handle – even if you admit to yourself that a move away from the status quo is likely to be beneficial.
Take the changes that are happening in pathology. In early April, I was at the first global congress of the Association of Molecular Pathology in Berlin and saw a staggering infographic that plotted the explosion of new molecular diagnostic technologies over the last 10 years. Innovation in our field is coming so thick and fast that the latter part of the line chart was nearly vertical! Such remarkable progress leads to an inevitable need for change – some of which is not so welcomed by the pathology and laboratory medicine community. Why? Given my conversations with many of you, it’s because of the challenges that accompany this new technology-driven era: the need for more money (during a time of austerity), higher workloads (with no increase in resources), greater training and education needs (when the number of new pathology recruits is diminishing and when course attendance is a luxury rather than a fundamental aspect of the job), IT system improvements (once again, during a time of austerity)... I guess that most of you can relate. On the other – very positive – side of the coin are the impacts of change already occurring in the diagnostics space. Diseases are being detected more accurately, more rapidly, and treated in a more targeted fashion than ever before. Better yet, the situation is continually improving. From what I see, the laboratory community is more than accepting of these positive changes – it’s often a case of struggling to find clever solutions to the aforementioned challenges. And that’s where we can help. It’s our job to seek out those enterprising pathologists and institutes who are implementing creative solutions against the odds. There will always be challenges, but I’m a firm believer in the old adage, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” So I’m ready to embrace change – and all of the challenges that come with it. Will you join me?
Fedra Pavlou
Editor
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