CAP Review and Forecast: Education 2025/2026

Dr. Raj Dash:
CAP On Demand has huge potential for reaching audiences that we would have trouble reaching. Folks are ready for microlearnings and they have short snippets during the day. But just like anything on Netflix, you have to be able to find something you like quickly, be able to view it, and then move on to the next thing.

Nancy Johnson:
Welcome to a series of conversations featuring council chairs from the College of American Pathologists. They highlight the successes of 2025, look ahead to 2026, and give us a window into who they are and why they're passionate about the work they do. I'm Nancy Johnson, and I'll bring you their stories. Dr. Raj Dash chairs the Council on Education and serves on the CAP's Board of Governors. The CAP is leading the way in offering educational content centered around molecular medicine and genomics.

Dr. Raj Dash:
There's continual refinement of the way in which the diagnostic information is conveyed in our reports as we learn more about disease processes. So keeping our pathologists up to date on areas such as the way in which we classify hematologic neoplasms because we learn more about the molecular aspects of certain diseases remains a strong area of focus for the college to make sure that our pathologists are, from a scientific standpoint, up to date.

Nancy Johnson:
The shift to new technologies happened fast during the COVID-19 pandemic when digital pathology accelerated.

Dr. Raj Dash:
Digital pathology is also seen as the basis for which you can layer artificial intelligence and machine learning on top of the way in which we practice. This has the potential to allow a young pathologist and new in practice pathologist to operate at the same level as a very senior, experienced pathologist. This type of technology not only potentially increases efficiency but improves the quality of care.

Nancy Johnson:
Dr. Dash believes that targeting education for a younger audience will address the greatest need and be most impactful.

Dr. Raj Dash:
We have medical students that are going into pathology or considering going into pathology. We have residents in training that are overwhelmed with information already in their residency programs, but could benefit from digestive information, vetted sources of information to help their learning and prepare for their board exams. And then we have new in practice folks that have just graduated from their training programs, just become board certified, and they're starting to recognize how to work efficiently, to take the knowledge that they've learned and continue to grow it at the same time, be able to get through a large volume of cases and look after the number of patients that their practice leaders expect them to look after.

Nancy Johnson:
One new educational offering is CAP On Demand, a Netflix-style way to consume pathology content.

Dr. Raj Dash:
And hopefully, if we get them hooked, they would come back for additional episodes and we keep them engaged. But that's going to take a lot more work to get up to the level of Netflix and be able to have the customized content based on an individual's preferences for the type of microlearnings that they're interested in watching.

Nancy Johnson:
As pathology continues to evolve, the CAP is taking a closer look at where it can uniquely lead an education.

Dr. Raj Dash:
So the CAP recognizes that we have strengths as an organization that other organizations don't have in providing education. We have subject matter experts that are facile in understanding the regulatory environment and can convey what pathologists need to know about what's coming that will impact their practice. We, of course, have many subject matter experts in the scientific disciplines. However, this competes directly with some other organizations that have a history of very well-attended annual meetings, for example. And that's an area that we would like to do better in, and we're trying to identify with our members' help what we can provide at our annual meetings that can help distinguish the event for the college versus the events that are put on by other organizations. So, what would be the draw? What would be the unique aspects of the annual meeting for the college that would be desirable for our members that they are not able to get at some of these other meetings?

Nancy Johnson:
That focus on standing out isn't new for Dr. Dash. Innovation has been part of his story from the very beginning.

Dr. Raj Dash:
When I was growing up, I was pretty certain I was going to be a video game designer. In junior high, I published my first game in a magazine, in a computer magazine. That was exciting and ended up writing a word processor that was sold for about four years during high school when it paid for my college education, which was pretty neat.

Nancy Johnson:
Read the full annual report to learn more, and be sure to check the show notes. In the days ahead, we'll visit with other council chairs to learn about their work and what's coming up this year. For the College of American Pathologists, this is Nancy Johnson. Have a great day.