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In this Issue:
- TOGETHER AGAIN
- REMINDER: CHAPTER MEETING IN JUNE
- ACP LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
- IT HAPPENED IN CHICAGO
William A Curry, MD, MACP, ACP Governor
TOGETHER AGAIN
After 26 months of pandemic detours, most of what we do is getting back to something like normal. We really are “Together Again.” That takes me to the Buck Owens song of that name and the later version by the great Ray Charles. Reunions of any kind deserve a lot of gratitude and celebration.
I've just returned from Chicago, where we held the first in-person national ACP annual meeting since the pandemic began. It was as usual the best CME on the planet, combined with great networking events and leadership development.
Alabama ACP members played an usually big role in presentations and course leadership. As she has for several meetings, Kirsten Kennedy led the procedural ultrasound course in the Waxman Center, with Jeremy Hackett in his second year as faculty. Stephen Russell led a course on bedside diagnosis in the skills center, and Kiki Titer led attendees through a learner assessment approach they call the “10 Minute Moment for Feedback.” Tavo Heudebert, my predecessor as Governor, gave two presentations involving evidence-based medicine and assessing the medical literature; and Tom Huddle, along with colleagues from NY City and Atlanta, presented ethical dilemmas of the early pandemic and how physicians responded to them. (The very short version is that physicians held to traditional ethical standards better in person than in theoretical settings.) Rachel Lee made her first appearance at the Scientific Medical Policy Committee of the College. Natasha Mehra represented our chapter in the abstract competition. And of course, our resident team from North Alabama Medical Center represented us well in Doctors' Dilemma competition.
And now for the Alabama version of reunion! I hope you can join us at Birmingham's Ross Bridge Resort for the joint annual Chapter meeting with our Mississippi friends. It's going to be a great educational meeting and a great time to celebrate with colleagues and family! Just go to our website and click on the June 3-5 meeting link. Besides the great sessions, it's a great place to play, shop, or just take a rest.
After what all of us have been doing with COVID-19 plus our “regular jobs,” I find myself and many of you pausing a bit to reflect. That could take one of two directions: a book, or something brief. I'll stick to the brief version. What I have seen of Alabama ACP members in the past two years has been heroic, inspiring work. Alabama Internists have been at the front lines from drive-through on the asphalt to pop-up clinics and redesigned clinical workflow, from virtual visits to inpatient and critical care, from re-organized small practices to leadership in major health systems and public policy. In all of that, you have been not just participants but leaders. The clinical and analytic skills of internal medicine prepare us uniquely well to diagnose and treat systems as well as individual patients with the same excellence and compassion that make us good physicians.
As we resume something more normal and hope for fewer and smaller surprises from viruses, our pandemic work is not quite done. ACP has a role to play in strengthening and redesigning public health at local, state, and national levels. Our State Health Officer, Scott Harris MD, FACP, is a colleague who has earned our thanks and assistance. Mike Soppett and Alan Baggett lead our Chapter public policy committee, and we will be vigilant about opportunities or threats involving pandemic or public health policy at the state level. I represent you on the national ACP Health and Public Policy Committee, where pandemic readiness and public health resources are critical considerations.
Our finances are in excellent condition (view financial statement), thanks to your continued membership support and to careful management by our Council and Treasurer Pink Folmar. We have accumulated very healthy reserves year after year. These give us a remarkable opportunity to support programs that can increase the impact and value of ACP in Alabama – especially with medical students, residents, and early career physicians.
Finally, I want to thank all the members of our Chapter Council and Committees for their support and contributions to promoting the mission of ACP here in Alabama. They have kept me informed and have helped me tremendously. Alabama ACP is YOU, and they represent you very well. For the coming years, below are our current and upcoming Council and Committee members. If you have an interest in joining any committee or project of Alabama ACP, just contact me at wcurry@uabmc.edu or our excellent Executive Director Christi Long at alamedgroups@gmail.com .
Governor-Elect: Ross Vaughn, Tuscaloosa
Immediate Past Governor: Gustavo Heudebert, Birmingham
Treasurer: Pink Folmar, Birmingham
Membership Chair: Hernando Carter, Birmingham
Wellness Champion: Lauren Pacheco, Birmingham
Program Chairs: Rob Smola and Allison Rogers, Birmingham
Council Class of 2023
Tyler Butts, Mobile
Hernando Carter, Birmingham
Brad McAnalley, Sheffield
Roger Smalligan, Huntsville
Council Class of 2024
Alan Baggett, Owens Crossroads
Ryan Kraemer, Birmingham
Haley Ballard, Mobile
Rebecca Byrd, Mountain Brook
Council Class of 2025
Lakeisha Moore-Smith, Birmingham
Dibyajiban Mahapatra, Huntsville
Alonso Heudebert, Birmingham
T. J. Hundley, Mobile
Medical Student Representatives
Meghan Olivet, UAB
Jack Galla, USA
TBA, VCOM
TBA, ACOM
Resident and Fellow Council Representative: Dan Spell, UAB
Council of Medical Student Members
Craig Hoesley, Birmingham, UAB Faculty Advisor and Chapter Coordinator
T.J. Hundley, Mobile, USA Faculty Advisor
Rekha Lall, Auburn, VCOM Faculty Advisor
TBA, ACOM Faculty Advisor
Council of Resident and Fellow Members
Alonso Heudebert, UAB Faculty Advisor and Chapter Coordinator
Council of Early Career Physicians
Alan Baggett, Co-Chair, Huntsville
Allison Rogers, Co-Chair, Birmingham
Stephen Stuart, Birmingham
Andrew Hodges, Scottsboro
The Alabama Chapter welcomes its newest Fellows:
| Oluyinka Adediji MBBS FACP | Omer Iqbal DO FACP | Arun Rajasekaran MBBS FACP |
| Allison Rogers MD FACP | Paulisa Ward MBBS FACP | Others elected to Fellowship during the pandemic are: |
| Carter Capra, MD FACP | Rob Smola, MD FACP | Ahsan Wahab, MBBS FACP |
| Rachel Seaman, MD FACP | Hennessy Williams, MD FACP | Justin Hovey, FACP MD |
| Naga Swetha Samji, MD FACP | Siva Parcha, MD FACP | Kenny Murray, MD FACP |
| Dhaval Pau, MD FACP | Ahmed Salem, MD FACP | Andrew Hodges, MD FACP |
| Christopher Ike, MD FACP | Emma Greer, MD FACP | George Nwadiaro, MD FACP |
| Reginald Mason, MD FACP | Sarah Joiner, MD FACP | Carolyn Kezar, MD FACP |
| Ferdinand Osuji, MBBS FACP | Rekha Lall, MD FACP |
REMINDER: CHAPTER MEETING IN JUNE
We hope you will consider joining us June 3-5 at Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa in Birmingham for our annual meeting. For details and registration, please visit the meeting page of our Alabama ACP website here.
ACP LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
ACP and the American Association for Physician Leadership jointly offer an 18-month comprehensive Certificate in Physician Leadership program as part of the ACP Leadership Academy. The certificate program offers tracks in either Hospital Medicine or Primary Care. Exclusive to ACP members, this flexible program includes formal training through 49.5 hours of online coursework, virtual group discussions, and a capstone project that demonstrates successful mastery of leadership concepts. Apply online by June 1, 2022, to enroll in the cohort that begins July 2022. For more information, visit the website.
IT HAPPENED IN CHICAGO
Those members elected to Fellowship during the pandemic were invited to attend convocation at IM22. Pictured here with Governor Bill Curry are Reggie Mason MD FACP and Rekha Lall MD FACP.
Kiersten Kennedy MD FACP and Jeremy Hackett MD gave class training in procedural ultrasound.
Tom Huddle MD FACP, member of our chapter and the ACP Committee on Ethics, Professionalism, and Human Rights, and Tavo Heudebert MD MACP, Past Governor and the inaugural editor of Annals Clinical Cases, both presented talks at ACP's IM22 in Chicago.
Continuing tradition, the Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi chapters gathered for a joint reception at IM22. Pictured with Dr. Curry are Louisiana Governor Angela Johnson MD FACP, Arkansas Governor Emily Church MD FACP, and Mississippi Governor Otis Gowdy Jr MD FACP.
10 Minute Moments for Feedback…Kiki Titer MD and Stephen Russell MD FACP taught H&P and assessing learners in physical exam.