Dr. Volk eager to lead the CAP through a time of change in health care
NORTHFIELD, Ill.—Emily E. Volk, MD, MBA, FCAP, was elected by the Fellows of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) as president-elect. Dr. Volk will assume her role September 21 at the CAP19 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, after which she will continue to serve on the organization’s Board of Governors and take additional leadership roles preceding the start of her presidency in the fall of 2021.
“I am really excited and very touched that the CAP Fellows have put their trust in me,” says Dr. Volk, “and I will make sure that I live up to this opportunity.”
“During the next two years, I want to do a lot of listening to our member pathologists to further grasp what they need from their organization,” says Dr. Volk. “I also want to further immerse myself in all areas of the CAP to better understand every aspect of how our organization serves its Fellows and patients.”
The CAP, founded in 1946, is the world’s largest organization of board-certified pathologists—the doctors who diagnose disease and oversee medical laboratories of hospitals and clinics worldwide.
“As pathologists,” she says, “we must continue to tell our story of how we work on behalf of our patients. Pathology is the best kept secret in medicine, and it is imperative that we pull back the curtain, share that secret, and continue to recruit talented medical students into our specialty.”
Dr. Volk—assistant professor of pathology at the University of Texas-Health, San Antonio, and senior vice-president of clinical services at University Health System in San Antonio, Texas—has served on the CAP’s Board of Governors since 2013 and has been an active member of the organization for more than 20 years.
She has served on various councils and committees during that time, including as chair and vice-chair of the Council on Government and Professional Affairs, chair of the Pathologists Quality Registry Ad Hoc Committee, and member of the Council on Membership and Professional Development.
“Serving in a variety of capacities for the CAP taught me how interconnected the various parts of this organization are and still need to be,” says Dr. Volk. “Issues that become apparent within the scientific affairs side can quickly require the resources of the political advocacy, regulatory, and accreditation sides, all working in concert. The CAP is definitely at its best when all these areas are working in the same direction.”
While representing pathology and the CAP in many capacities, from ensuring patient safety and testing quality by leading laboratory inspections to working with federal and state governments on surprise billing issues, she is eager to lead the CAP through a time of change in health care.
Dr. Volk says, “My vision for the future is to further integrate the resources of the CAP into the daily lives of our members. To make the CAP an even better partner for practicing pathologists and to push for an even higher level of engagement from our diverse membership.”
“The CAP is the most influential and impactful organization for practicing board-certified pathologists,” says Dr. Volk, “and we don’t want other people telling our story—we need to tell our own story. We need to make sure hospital administrators as well as all our clinical colleagues know that the work pathologists do for patients is indispensable to the practice of medicine.”
After attending medical school at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, Dr. Volk received her training in anatomic and clinical pathology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She received further subspecialty training in cytopathology at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. Over the past 20 years, she has practiced anatomic and clinical pathology in Michigan and Texas. She continues her work in San Antonio where she lives with her husband, Daniel Mais, MD, FCAP, and their four children.
About the College of American Pathologists
As the world's largest organization of board-certified pathologists and leading provider of laboratory accreditation and proficiency testing programs, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) serves patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine worldwide. For more information, read the 2018 CAP Annual Report at CAP.ORG.