Massachusetts Chapter Receives the 2025 John Tooker Evergreen Award
The John Tooker Evergreen Awards Program provides recognition and visibility to chapters that have successfully implemented programs to increase membership, improve communication, encourage member involvement, enhance diversity, foster careers in internal medicine or improve chapter management. The Massachusetts Chapter received the 2025 John Tooker Evergreen Award for their initiative, Annual Chapter Poster Competition: Increasing the Value for Trainees and Judges.
Annual Chapter Poster Competition: Increasing the Value for Trainees and Judges
The Massachusetts Chapter developed educational sessions for trainees on poster presentation skills, design techniques, how to address a judge's questions, and writing an abstract.
The Poster Competition was popular; but knew it could be even more valuable for our members. Educational sessions were developed for trainees to learn the specifics about presenting posters, addressing judges' questions, designing posters, and writing an abstract. An educational session was also added for faculty judges to discuss implicit bias. Additionally, the number of abstract categories increased to match the national ACP categories, encouraging participation in the Annual Internal Medicine Meeting poster competition. The Massachusetts Chapter developed educational sessions for trainees on poster presentation skills, design techniques, how to address a judges' questions, and writing an abstract.
Previous Evergreen Awards:
- 2022 - Virtual Advocacy Day at the State House
- 2022 - Leadership Development for Women in Medicine
- 2018 - Chapter HPPC State House Advocacy Day
- 2017 - Mentoring Collaborative
- 2005 - Establishing a State-Wide Electronic Health Record Infrastructure
2023 Chapter Excellence Award – Gold Winner
We are pleased to announce that our chapter is in receipt of the Gold Level of the 2023 Chapter Excellence Award! The award recognizes truly extraordinary chapters that surpass excellence in chapter management. We are in the company of 54 other outstanding chapters. In order to achieve the Gold Level of the Chapter Excellence Award, chapters must meet nineteen Bronze criteria, seventeen Silver criteria and multiple Gold level activities. Criteria include such activities as having a legislative action plan or agenda, holding a volunteerism/community service activity, holding multiple stand-alone meetings, having revenue sources outside of dues and meeting registration fees, implementing a strategic plan, implementing a formal recruitment and retention plan and measuring outcomes, conducting various activities for Medical Students, Residents and Early Career Physicians.
We would like to extend a special thanks to those chapter members who assisted us in all of these endeavors! For their hard work and dedication, we received this award.
Massachusetts Chapter Receives the Mary Bieter Evergreen All Stars Award
The Mary Bieter Evergreen All-Star Awards recognized exceptional and sustained chapter-initiated programs that supported and adapted to the Internal Medicine landscape in the United States and around the world. ACP Members were asked to review and select All-Star nominations they believed were worth of recognition. The Massachusetts Chapter received the Mary Bieter Evergreen All-Star Award for their initiative, Health and Public Policy Committee.
Health and Public Policy Committee
Each year the committee identifies advocacy priorities based on feedback from members. Programs range from in-depth work on particular policy areas to opportunities for a member to write or call a legislator’s office to express perspectives on a timely matter. MA HPPC has grown in breadth and depth for years. Interest among members is robust. A centerpiece of the MA HPPC’s work, Advocacy Day at the State House, held its 5th successful annual experience for members, legislators, and staff in 2022.
Numerous ways to participate are offered, from information about an upcoming legislative matter and templates to facilitate contact your legislator about it, to learning opportunities about how to advocate effectively, to subcommittees about particular advocacy matters and opportunities to lead a subcommittee. For example, Advocacy Day 2020 occurred soon after the onset of the pandemic lockdown and was rapidly converted to a virtual experience. For 2021, there was time to plan the meeting to be virtual; the Advocacy Education Subcommittee planned virtual training prior to Advocacy Day and for the day of the event. From 2020 to 2021, legislative meetings increased from 10 to 22, with geographic participation increased facilitating connections with certain legislators for the first time. Chapter participants increased from 28 (10 new) to 65 from 2020 to 2021. Trainee representation increased. MA HPPC’s Virtual Advocacy Day became the blueprint for some other ACP Chapter’s virtual Advocacy Day efforts later in 2020; those Chapters reached out to our Chapter for guidance on how to operationalize their virtual Advocacy Day, fostering cross-chapter support, communication, and collaboration.