Opening Doors to Medicine

Nancy Johnson
0:00

Welcome to CAP News. I'm Nancy Johnson with the College of American Pathologists. It's Monday, October 19th, and here's what's making news in pathology and laboratory medicine. For aspiring doctors, sometimes the first step is seeing a path you never knew existed and having someone show you the way. CAP pathologists are opening doors to medicine and introducing a new generation to pathology. Long before Dr. Christine Booth became a pathologist at Cleveland Clinic, she was trying to figure out how to become a doctor without physicians in her family to guide her.

Dr. Christine Booth
0:38

I didn't come from a family of doctors. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into or even know how to apply. So I feel like I didn't have the mentors myself either.

Nancy Johnson
0:50

Dr. Booth has become the mentor she didn't have. Three years ago, she and her fellow pathologists began working with the Chicago-based I Am Abel Foundation, which helps high school, college, and post-baccalaureate students from underrepresented backgrounds see medicine as a future they can pursue. The pathologists are members of the CAP's diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility committee.

Valeria Vizcaino
1:19

I knew I was going to be a doctor since I was very young. So yeah, being part of the program just made my decisions easier and they guide me because I'm a first-generation student and also, you know, hopefully medical student. So yeah, they guided me on what I had to do and what were the expectations because medical school is really competitive.

Nancy Johnson
1:41

CAP members teach a six-month pathology elective through I Am Abel, introducing students to the specialty through cases, laboratory medicine, and the experiences of practicing pathologists.

Jacqueline Marquez
2:27

There was this one physician that told us about an opportunity to shadow at the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office so I actually went to that website and contacted them and I'm gonna shadow like this month just to see what it's about and Again like without I am Abel in general. I don't think that I would have had the opportunity to just attend so many different sessions and have so many guest speakers and just really be exposed to all these amazing specialties that otherwise I wouldn't have known existed.

Valeria Vizcaino
2:27

 I just wanted to learn about, you know, diseases and stuff and I was like, let me try pathology, you know? But I truly like the first class I took, the advanced class was cardiology 'cause I love cardiology. I worked as a cardiovascular surgery medical scribe and I loved it. So I was like, let me do it. And I did physical examination as well, point of care ultrasound. And then I was like, Huh, let me see pathology. Let's see what's that about, you know, because I'm here to get exposure to different specialties so. 5:39

Nancy Johnson
2:56

Exposure opens the door, but for students navigating a career in medicine for the first time, guidance can make that path feel possible.

Jacqueline Marquez
3:05

For students that don't really have connections to family members or just you know, I would say, yeah, family members in medicine, it really just kind of helps bridge the gap and just making it just really has made everything very much more achievable and believable. You know, I feel like wanting to be a doctor is very is very easy for you to say that, right? But then once you figure out how and what you have to do to kind of reach those goals, it's very daunting and it's very scary.

Nancy Johnson
3:34

And for Dr. Booth, that's exactly why reaching students early matters.

Dr. Christine Booth
3:39

As the first person in my family to go into medicine, um I I share that with them and I I want to help them understand, and even all young people like what a great , wonderful world that we work in, and being Abel to make diagnoses on a daily basis, and being Abel to share that and have you know younger people understand that they can really have an impact on patient lives by being a member of the laboratory team.

Nancy Johnson
4:11

Valeria and Jacqueline are both applying to medical schools right now. And the CAP's involvement continues to grow with members of the medical, toxicology, and forensics committees, along with the future pathologist champions leading seminars for I Am Abel students this year. That does it for this episode of CAP News. Share this newscast with your social media network. And if you're watching this video on YouTube, hit the like button and leave us a comment. And if you've got a story we should be covering, write to us at stories at CAP.org. We're back tomorrow at 5 AM Eastern for another episode of our newscast. I'm Nancy Johnson. Have a great day.