2011 CAP Lifetime Achievement Award David J. Blomberg, MD ...

2011 CAP Lifetime Achievement Award David J. Blomberg, MD, FCAP Biography The College of American Pathologists presents the CAP Lifetime Achievement Award to David J. Blomberg, MD, FCAP, for his deep devotion and tireless commitment to the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, having conducted more than 150 inspections both in the US and abroad. During his 30-year service with the CAP, Dr. Blomberg served as the CAP Minnesota state commissioner for seven years and as the deputy regional commissioner for pediatric hospitals for an additional 15 years. As a member of the Hematology and Clinical Microscopy Resource Committee and the Publications Committee, Dr. Blomberg co-authored two highly successful CAP books, Color Atlas of Body Fluids, and Color Atlas of the Urinary Sediment. He also has contributed countless hours organizing and giving pathology lectures in chemistry and physiology, as well as general pathology. Additionally, Dr. Blomberg has held leadership positions with local pathology organizations, serving as president for the Lake Superior Pathology Society, as well as for the Minnesota Society of Pathologists, where he still serves on its board of directors. He also was a member of the Duluth Graduate Medical Education Advisory Committee from 1998–2005. Dr. Blomberg has served as a laboratory director and pathology professor with numerous institutions for more than 30 years. Most recently he was the director of laboratories at both the White Community Hospital in Aurora, Minnesota, and at the North Shore Hospital in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Additionally, he served as a faculty member in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis. Dr. Blomberg received his BA in mathematics from the University of Minnesota where he went on to receive his MD. He completed an internship at Hennepin County General Hospital in Minneapolis before completing his residency in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, also in Minneapolis. The American Board of Pathologists has certified Dr. Blomberg in anatomic and clinical pathology. He holds licensure in Minnesota.

Remarks Like many others, I have devoted time and effort to support the goals of the College of American Pathologists. The College of American Pathologists was created to promote excellence in laboratory medicine and to address issues identified by physicians trying to assign medical significance to strikingly inaccurate test results in treating their patients. Development of the Laboratory Accreditation Program centered around proficiency testing, periodic on-site inspections by volunteer teams of peer professionals, and ensuring that laboratory specialists would have ready access to the most current medical knowledge through the efforts of the resource committees. These efforts, coupled with the development of an active committee devoted to publication of these findings, have resulted in major improvements in the quality of laboratory testing.

Today’s physicians rely heavily on laboratory test results and can do so because of the efforts of the College of American Pathologists to continuously improve the accuracy and precision of diagnostic medical laboratory testing. I am proud to have contributed to this process in my own way and am greatly honored to be recognized by my peers for my efforts.