The Road Less Traveled
The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology is a BRAC target, but that hasn’t stopped the staff from moving forward with important clinical initiatives and expansion to better fulfill their mission.
By Dr. Florabel Garcia Mullick
When I became the AFIP’s director in June last year [2007], I said that “the road ahead will not be easy.” And although I’d like to tell you otherwise, that statement is no less true today than when I first put those words to paper; for the passing months have not changed the fact that the AFIP will soon be facing implementation of base realignment and closure (BRAC) actions.
BRAC poses significant challenges for us, as it does for all institutions under its authority. Between now and September 2011—when the AFIP is scheduled to complete its BRAC actions—we all will face difficult tasks and decisions.
Morale will be tested. Attracting and retaining talented, dedicated employees may not be as easy as in the past. Our ability to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances will require increased flexibility and ingenuity. And assuring our customers they will continue to receive the excellent service they have come to expect from us will require increased commitment and attention to their needs.
All great challenges indeed.
And in the face of such challenges, in the past there has been a tendency for some agencies facing BRAC actions to gradually assume an air of hopelessness or simply throw up their hands in despair, resulting in organizational paralysis.
Let me assure you, that will not be the case for the AFIP. We don’t shrug our shoulders, we shoulder the burden. We don’t hang our heads in frustration; we use our heads to rise above and beyond the challenges before us. Throwing up our hands in despair is not who we are; it is not a part of our professional DNA.
Instead, we will follow the road less traveled under BRAC by renewing and reinvigorating our commitment to innovation, world-class research and diagnoses, and by continuing to help save the lives of our military and civilian customers. We will show that BRAC—despite all the negatives associated with the acronym—need not be paralyzing; rather, it’s an opportunity to leave behind an even greater legacy than the one that exists at this critical juncture in our institution’s long and proud history.
During the past 15 years we have all had the chance to witness tremendous growth and breakthroughs, beginning with the consolidation of the histology laboratories, the creation of a Molecular Pathology Department and the immunopathology laboratories.
These were followed by the development of a pilot telepathology program that expanded into a worldwide program with equipment deployed at 20 Army bases, and a video-teleconference lecture program that reaches hundreds of pathologists in 40 military medical centers and 48 Department of Veterans Affairs’ facilities.
We have seen creation and expansion of the DNA Registry and Repository; establishment of the Mortality Surveillance Registry; breakthrough research to help the services improve body armor; work on the Spanish influenza, which may help us unlock clues to future viruses; the development of the most sensitive test for depleted uranium and the establishment of the War Registries; and perhaps most importantly, we have seen how our continued improvement in providing second opinion consults—both for civilians and military—have saved lives and prevented countless unnecessary amputations of limbs, mastectomies, and other radical surgical procedures.
That’s quite a legacy. But we’re not stopping there.
A recently-established clinical initiatives program will insure the AFIP’s prominent standing as one of the premier pathology centers in the world by capitalizing on the tremendous technological advances of the 21st century. The program is concentrated on implementing technologically advanced equipment and procedures as they relate to tissue-based pathology, and will evolve into many arenas by reaching out to the scientific community, academia, bio-technology companies and the pharmaceutical industry. The end result will be an enhanced ability to provide rapid, reliable and accurate diagnoses on difficult cases to pathologists across the United States and worldwide.
Additionally, we are in the midst of a $1 million upgrade to laboratory space within AFIP headquarters to accommodate the molecular laboratory, which has been moved from the Rockville Annex back to Building 54. The molecular lab is now being integrated into the AFIP’s consultative service, greatly amplifying the institute’s diagnostic capabilities. The lab currently operates with a complement of 21 assays, and the ability to create additional ones to support the needs of specific departments. Our molecular lab pathology staff is now uniquely positioned to conduct research into identifying DNA, RNA and proteins that might impact treatment options for patients. And we will be using the massive assets of our tissue repository to create unique tissue microarrays in support of cutting edge research.
And so we move forward into the uncertainty of the next few years, but with the certainty that we will—without fail—leave behind a legacy that will make any organization proud to say that they picked up where the AFIP left off.
And we move forward with enthusiasm. For as the great American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful and you will accomplish your goal. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
We owe that much to ourselves, our colleagues throughout the world, and to our most important clients—the men and women of the armed services and their families and our nation’s veterans. ♦
Dr. Florabel Garcia Mullick, M.D,, is a member of the Senior Executive Service and director of the AFIP.