I am honored to serve as the President of the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology (PSC) 2022-2024. I hope you will join the society leadership in the work ahead, as we strive to continue our mission to serve as a strong advocate for cytopathology across the globe.
As I write this address, I remembered the history of the PSC as if it was just yesterday. As a fellow, I remember listening to many phone discussions between my mentor and other founders of the PSC as they discussed the dynamics of creating this society in response to the USCAP call to initiate the first Companion Cytopathology Society with the vision of “Bridging The Gap Between Cytology and Small Biopsy”. The PSC was and is always committed to the mission of “Cytopathology without Borders” and as a result and for over a decade, hosted the “Cells Without Borders” meeting that introduced us to practices and challenges in cytopathology across the globe. The society also has a strong presence in all national and international conferences.
I joined the PSC and attended its first business meeting in 1994 and have been a loyal member since then. The PSC afforded me the opportunity to serve either as member or chair on multiple committees, served two terms as Secretary and one term as member of the Executive Board. Without doubt, this immensely contributed to my professional development and afforded me the opportunities to network with both national and international pathology experts. It is in this spirit that I invite our colleague pathologists and particularly the younger ones who are our potential future leaders to join the PSC and get engaged in its various activities.
There is much to be done as we begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. We all were affected by that crisis at multiple levels and many are still grappling with the effects of the pandemic. We all had to cope with the mandated lock down and work from home. During this time, many business closed, stock markets crashed and we experienced the great resignation in many fields resulting in short staffing, overwork and burn out. Now, we also deal with political unrest almost in every corner of earth. Yet, as difficult as all this is, we also realize new opportunities and the value that science can serve as a unifier and peace ambassador among all nations.
I hope you will all join the PSC leaders as we approach the future with enthusiasm and hope. With mandated work from home, we also discovered the value of remote working and communication. This technology is poised to reshape how we learn, operate and communicate with the physical world. We can now reach anywhere in the globe and offer our knowledge and assistance with minimal expense. We can be far more productive and efficient as we circumvent geography and time. In this spirit the PSC initiated a dedicated “Social Media Committee” with the mission of establishing remote education that can reach anywhere, anytime and even to the least developing countries. This committee will work closely with the “Education and Training committee” to further develop our remote learning activities. Meanwhile, the PSC continue to participate with a companion meeting in conjunction with many national and international societies. We need all hands to build the perfect bridge into the future and build new avenues that could be leveraged both now and across the next generations of pathologists. Please join the PSC, get engaged and be one of those who reach out into the future.
Sincerely, Claire W. Michael, M.D.