5 Reasons Why Pathology Residents Should Develop Leadership Skills—And How To Do It

By Corey Whelan - July 16, 2024

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Despite how it may seem, good leadership skills don’t always come naturally. They need to be worked at and acquired. Anyone can be a mediocre leader. It takes time and training to become a great one.

No matter how you visualize your laboratory career’s trajectory, leadership skills should be an essential part of your toolbox. Your ability to take the helm not only supports career growth, it also benefits your institution, and the field of pathology as a whole. 

If you’re a pathology resident, a new-in-practice pathologist, or early in your career pathologist, you’re probably focused on learning new skills and protocols, and it may sound  overwhelming to add leadership skill acquisition into your routine. But there is no better time to start developing the leadership skills that will serve you throughout your career. 

To underline its value and get suggestions for how to become a leader in pathology, we spoke to ASCP’s Resident Council chair for 2023-2024, Yembur Ahmad, MD, Assistant Director, Transfusion Medicine, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Assistant Professor of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, USC; Adam L. Booth, MD, FCAP, FASCP, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine; Savanah Gisriel, MD, MPH, Clinical Fellow at Yale School of Medicine; and Dana Razzano, MD, Director of Telepathology, Orlando VAMC, Assistant Professor of Pathology, UCF. Here’s why these powerhouse professionals acquired leadership skills early on in their careers, and the strategies they used to do it.

 

1. Leadership skills build confidence 

When Dr. Razzano looks back at her career, she’s glad she started developing leadership skills as a resident. “Even in your very first job, you may need leadership skills. If you learn to lead early on, you’ll be more comfortable once your name is on the bottom line. You’ll also be more capable,” she says.

Throughout your career, you’ll be thrust into situations where taking the lead is required. Use those opportunities to hone your skills, and to figure out what works, and what doesn’t. Since there isn’t a systematic approach to learning leadership, Dr. Razzano recommends prioritizing it for yourself.

How to do it:
“Observing leaders is a good way to identify and develop your own leadership skills,” says Dr. Booth. “Watch leaders in all walks of life, from the laboratory to the supermarket. See how they handle all kinds of situations. Do people want to keep working for them? Are they effective? Do they motivate and empower their team?"

 

2. Being a leader opens career doors 

The confidence you acquire from gaining leadership skills enables you to efficiently and accurately make decisions. It also gets you noticed. “If you’re interested in becoming a leader, get a taste of what it’s like early on, to see if it’s for you. Once you assume one role, other roles will keep coming in. And the earlier you start, the easier it will be to find great opportunities later on,” says Dr. Gisriel.

“When looking at the job market, people want to hire seasoned leaders. The more you can prove that you have those skills on your CV, the more marketable you will be,” adds Dr. Razzano.

How to do it: 
Make time to network by joining or leading committees and councils. The more people you interact with, the more growth opportunities you’ll ultimately uncover. “Once you’re on the committee, take on any kind of volunteer role, even if it's out of your comfort zone,” suggests Dr. Razzano.  

Dr. Ahmad joined ASCP’s Resident Council, rising through the ranks to become Chair-Elect and a year later, the 2023-2024 Chair. “I joined the council with little prior knowledge of ASCP. When I started, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I loved that we were getting concrete things done, and making change instead of just talking about it. That motivated me to make an impact to help pathology trainees in any way we could,” she says.

Dr. Gisriel noticed that there wasn’t a pathology leadership group in her medical school in Phoenix, so she started one. “By founding this group and putting myself in a leadership position, I was able to help people find their passions, and explore other leadership positions as well,” she says.

3. You may need to lead sooner than you think

COVID-19 may largely be behind us, but the pathologist retirement boom it spurred remains a reality. “The current pathologist shortage is worsened by the fact that many medical school students don’t know much about this field. That’s one of the reasons why I got involved in outreach efforts that required taking on a leadership role. It was to spread the word about how cool pathology is,” says Dr. Gisriel.

The early retirements of seasoned professionals, coupled with the hiring of newly-minted professionals, means that early career pathologists may find themselves in leadership positions sooner rather than later. “When you begin your first job after training, it is likely that your role will include some form of laboratory directorship. You will suddenly be expected to lead, and those leadership skills are not necessarily taught during residency. For that reason, it’s vitally important for your laboratory and for patient care that you pursue these skills on your own,” says Dr. Ahmad.

How to do it: 
Consider getting a mentor. “Early in residency, I knew what I was interested in within pathology and had goals I wanted to achieve. Mentors are a wealth of knowledge and experience. During training I sought mentors that were successful in the fields and activities I wanted to be successful in,” says Dr. Booth, who started gravitating towards leadership roles as an undergraduate student.

Ideally, your mentor should be a supportive professional in the type of position or the skills you wish to ultimately achieve. They should be willing to provide suggestions and solutions about leadership skill acquisition and other professional attributes you’ll need in your career. “As a trainee, I met with my department chair once a month or so. We would discuss career growth, thoughts, and ideas. It was highly beneficial for me,” adds Dr. Booth.


The early retirements of seasoned professionals, coupled with the hiring of newly-minted professionals, means that early career pathologists may find themselves in leadership positions sooner rather than later.



4. Being a leader gives you a voice

Being a leader provides you with the opportunity to generate change and improvements where they’re needed. “As you move through your training, you’ll encounter things you want to improve so that the class below you can succeed. By taking on these roles, you become an instrument for change. You get to have a role in what happens next,” says Dr. Gisriel. She stresses that good leadership means taking the time to learn about other people’s perspectives. “When you take on a leadership role you can shape and guide things in a way that has an impact on the big picture. Putting all these pieces together with a team of colleagues is rewarding,” adds Dr. Booth.

"Pathology is unique in that you can subspecialize in any organ system and become highly skilled in many areas of the laboratory.  Within these sectors, you can find unique leadership positions. With the leadership skills you acquired early on, you can also start your own company, or run your own research lab. The possibilities are endless," says Dr. Gisriel.  

How to do it: 
Consider enrolling in  leadership programs, such as ASCP’s Leadership Institute’s Leadership Certificate Program. “I wanted to improve my skills as a leader, so during my early training I did ASCP’s program, and other programs as well. That allowed me to surface my skills within those societies. It showed that I wanted to be a leader in our field, and grow my career,” says Dr. Booth.

 

5. Leadership skills make you valuable outside the laboratory, too

In a world that may always need fixing, there’s a lot for leaders to do. Acquiring the ability to lead can make you more effective within your family and your community. It can help you achieve meaningful partnerships. It can provide you with the skills needed to create change where it is warranted, and to elicit confidence from others.  

How to do it: 
All of the professionals who contributed to this list take on leadership roles outside of their careers. They have hobbies, participate in communities of faith, and get involved in their neighborhoods. Because they know how to lead, they’re there to pick up the pieces when natural disasters affect their communities, or when a failing grade sidelines a student. They know when to lead, and when to be team players. They continue to work hard on behalf of their colleagues, and are open to new learning (and leading) opportunities. 

As  an early leader in pathology, you have the opportunity to shape your career, rather than letting others shape it for you. By acquiring leadership skills, you can also generate change that benefits healthcare as a whole, and possibly even the world as we know it. 

 

Corey Whelan

Patient Advocate and Freelance Writer