Alabama Governor's Newsletter December 2025
In this Issue:
- Governor's Message
- Upcoming Events
- Governor-elect Designee Announced
- New Laureate Fellows Announced
- Literature and Medicine Retreat Scheduled for January
- Winter Chapter Meeting Coming to Huntsville
- 2025 Gold Chapter Excellence Award Winner
- AI Powered Obesity Management Conversations Tool Available
- ACP Member Insurance Options Available to You
Ross B. Vaughn, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Message
Dear Colleagues,
As the weather cools and holidays approach, I hope you are well. 2025 has been a difficult year for supporters of evidence-based patient care and organized medicine.
However, it has been a productive year in our chapter. We welcomed a new class of chapter Laureate Fellows, Dr. Louis Boohaker from Brookwood Baptist Health and Dr. Charles Evers from UAB. Together we had meetings with legislators and the lieutenant governor at the Alabama State House discussing healthcare workforce in the state and attended ACP's Leadership Day in Washington, DC. The chapter held our second annual winter meeting on the campus of the University of South Alabama with a focus on Precision Medicine. Updated bylaws for Alabama ACP were approved by the national ACP Board of Regents. Our Alabama ACP Primary Care Task Force assisted with the design and implementation of a value based internal medicine residency training clinic at Flowers Hospital in Dothan as part of our Imagination Project. We also received our very first Gold Chapter Excellence Award from national ACP this year.
We look forward to the challenges and opportunities of the new year. More than ever, our responsibility to support public health will be at the heart of our endeavors. David Pugack, JD, Vice President for Governmental Affairs and Public Policy of ACP will be our College representative at the Alabama-Mississippi Chapter meeting in June to update our members on the efforts of ACP and our partners in this regard.
Best wishes,
Ross B. Vaughn, MD FACP
Governor, Alabama ACP
Upcoming Events
Literature and Medicine Retreat - January 23-25, 2026
Trilogy Hotel, Montgomery
Alabama ACP Winter Meeting - February 7, 2026
University of Alabama, Huntsville
ACP Internal Medicine Meeting - April 16-18, 2026
San Francisco, California
ACP Leadership Day - May 12-13, 2026
Washington, DC
Alabama-Mississippi Chapters Meeting - June 5-8, 2026
Gulf State Park Lodge - Gulf Shores, Alabama
Governor-elect Designee Announced
Dr. Roger Smalligan, dean of the Huntsville Regional Medical Campus of the UAB Heersink School of Medicine and Laureate of the Alabama chapter, has been selected to be the next Governor of the Alabama chapter of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Roger Smalligan will start his term as Governor-elect after the Annual Business Meeting in San Francisco, California on April 18, 2026 and will take office as Governor in April 2027. As Governor, Dr. Smalligan will serve as the official representative of the College for the Alabama Chapter, providing a link between members at the local level and leadership at the national level. The Governor has a variety of responsibilities at both levels. Having been active previously in the Tennessee and Texas chapters, Dr. Smalligan has been a member of the Governor's Advisory Council of our chapter since moving to Alabama, and we are enthusiastic about what lies ahead under his leadership.
New Laureate Fellows Announced
To cultivate leaders for state and national ACP roles, Alabama ACP established the Laureate Society Fellowship in 2023.
Rather than relying on future leaders to “self-select” and step forward, the goal of the Alabama Laureate Society Fellowship is to actively and deliberately develop a pipeline of leaders for sponsorship to state and national ACP leadership positions. Second- or third-year residents with leadership qualities and potential are nominated by their program directors from across the state. Nominees should be ACP members, aspire to leadership in Alabama ACP and national ACP, and be committed to remaining and practicing in Alabama. Two recipients are selected each year by members of our Laureate Society (former state Laureate Awardees) for a two-year Laureate Fellowship Award. The award covers the costs of attending up to 2 state ACP meetings, 2 national ACP meetings, 2 state Leadership Days in Montgomery, and 2 ACP Leadership Days in Washington, DC. The recipients are members of the state ACP meeting planning committee, the state ACP Health and Public Policy Committee, the state ACP resident council, the Governor's Advisory Council and have access to mentorship by members of the Alabama ACP Laureate Society. The fellowship is intended to provide a framework for introduction and networking with state and national ACP leadership.
We welcome our fourth class of Laureate Fellows: Hope Lackey, MD (UAB Huntsville) and Will Southall, MD (UAB), who joined last year's Fellows.
Literature and Medicine Retreat Scheduled for January
The 2026 Literature and Medicine Retreat will again take place at the Trilogy Hotel in Montgomery from Friday evening, January 23, 2026 through Sunday morning, January 25, 2026. Professor Randy Davis will lead the discussions.
The reading selections for the retreat are as follows:
Novel: As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
Short Stories: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, by Alice Munro
Play: Our Town, by Thornton Wilder
Poetry: The Waste Land, by T. S. Elliott
On Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. the group will watch a film of As I Lay Dying.
Saturday at 8:30 a.m. will begin a discussion of the readings.
Sunday at 8:30 a.m. will be a discussion of the poetry.
A group dinner will be held on Saturday evening and continental breakfast will be provided Saturday and Sunday, and lunch will be “on your own” on Saturday.
Registration fee: $175 per person or $350 per couple
(spouses/significant others invited)
Mail check for registration payable to ALABAMA CHAPTER ACP to:
Bill Boyd, MD FACP
3402 Lockwood Place
Montgomery, AL 36111-1555
Make hotel reservations DIRECTLY with Trilogy Hotel, (334) 440-3550. There is no special group rate.
Winter Chapter Meeting Coming to Huntsville
Join us for Intelligent Medicine: The Future of Clinical AI on February 7, 2026. Information posted on the news and meetings page.
2025 Gold Chapter Excellence Award Winner
We are excited to announce that the Alabama ACP Chapter achieved Gold level status for the 2025 Chapter Excellence Award. The award recognizes chapters that surpass excellence in chapter management, and this is the first year we have been awarded Gold level. To reach Gold level, chapters must meet 22 Bronze criteria, 12 Silver criteria, and 25 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, and conducting various activities for medical students, residents, and early career physicians. The chapter gratefully acknowledges the contributions of our executive director, Christi Long, whose dedication was instrumental in achieving this significant milestone.
AI Powered Obesity Management Conversations Tool Available
Alabama places among the states with the highest obesity rates nationwide. According to the CDC and Alabama Department of Public Health, about 38-39% of adults in our state are classified as obese. ACP offers resources to improve your skills in discussing obesity with your patients.
As part of its artificial intelligence resource hub, ACP has available a unique AI-powered learning opportunity to help you practice applying the 5A framework (ask, assess, advise, agree, assist) by conversing with a simulated online patient using either speech or text in a ten-minute consultation, designed to approximate a busy clinical environment. You will receive customized, evidence-based feedback on your performance with opportunities to practice again with other patient scenarios.
ACP Member Insurance Options Available to You
Through the purchasing power of ACP, you have access to a broad package of unique insurance products and rates specifically designed for physicians to meet your personal and practice needs. The products are administered by AGIA Affinity.
Each ACP insurance program features these advantages:
- Member-only rates and discounts
- Stability of industry-leading insurance carriers
- Service provided by ACP specialists who understand the diverse needs of physicians
- Portable coverage you can take with you if you change jobs
- ACP endorsement – each product meets ACP's strict criteria for providing quality and value for its members
Available products include:
- Life insurance up to $2,000,000
- Disability income insurance
- Group office overhead insurance
- Group accidental death & dismemberment insurance