You are here
Connecticut Governor's Newsletter August 2019
-
In this Issue:
- From the Governor
- National Programs and News
- Diversity Committee Update
- 2019 Connecticut ACP Annual Meeting Update
- New Chapter Members – Last Six Months
- New Fellows – Last Six Months
- Contact Us
Rebecca A. Andrews, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
From the Governor
“Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success.”
—Paul J. Meyer, January 2019
Dear Colleagues,
We are mid-summer and the heat is on! I hope many of you are finding time to relax with friends and family as well as find time for hobbies and outdoor enjoyment. We hopefully did our part in that this year with our first purely social and family gathering picnic in the southern part of the state. I hope many of you were able to participate and provide feedback.
For me, summer is a time I wait for all year. The kids are home, the days are long, and the weather is a relief from the New England winter. For those of you who know me personally, my life gets very busy during the school year with work, kids' activities (hockey, soccer, oboe, trumpet, piano), my travel for the Board of Governors, and of course family events. While I love the “busy-ness” of the year, summer is a reminder that “busy is not a badge of honor” and provides a moment to reset my priorities. With that in mind, I will head off for a week of no wi-fi and limited cellular service with two kids and a few national parks. I plan to use the time to reconnect without an electronic interface (something I long for at work as well) and enjoy the natural beauty of our country. These breaks from our day-to-day, whether 3 days or 7, offer a moment to take stock of life and take care of our own wellness – not just the health of others.
National Programs and News
New Webinars on Physician-Led Coaching: The Key to Success in Quality
ACP will be hosting weekly webinars in the month of July to showcase the new ACP Advance Physician-Led Coaching Service as a key to success in quality and value-based payment. ACP Advance is a comprehensive quality improvement (QI) program designed to engage and empower clinicians to achieve meaningful and sustained improvement in quality and patient outcomes.
The Physician-Led Coaching service provides peer-to-peer guidance, virtual coaching from physician experts, and implementation support to help organizations achieve success in quality improvement and high value care initiatives. ACP Advance coaches will engage physicians and clinical staff to help implement the initiatives that address the organization's unique challenges and help achieve their goals. Coaches will curate a package of ACP resources to address gaps in QI, change management, high value care, joy in practice, well-being, and patient and family engagement.
To sign up for ACP's “Physician-Led Coaching: the Key to Success in Quality” webinar, please click the links below:
Wednesday, July 31, 2019: 5:00 – 5:30 pm Eastern (4:00 pm Central) - Register here
For further information, please contact Michele Duchin-Watson, Associate, at mduchin@acponline.org or (202) 261-4529.
Medical Student Committee
As we transition into the new academic year, CTACP's newest student liaisons wanted to find a way to both engage their fellow students in volunteerism as well as promote student membership in CTACP and their internal medicine interest groups. A healthy competition was the answer with an event organized by the students at Yale, Quinnipiac and UConn to help raise donations for a charity of their choosing. Students of the three schools worked together to compile a wish list of donation items for their respective charities. Each school chose an organization that helps support their local community.
Quinnipiac: Emergency Shelter Management Services, New Haven
UConn: South Park Inn, Hartford
Yale: Columbus House, New Haven
Over the course of two weeks students collected items from their respective organizations' wish lists. At the end of the donation period, each school compiled a list of the collected items, blinded the source, and then sent it to our former Governor Dr. Robert Nardino, MD, FACP to judge! Each school did such a great job that Dr. Nardino had a very difficult time deciding but ultimately School #3 was declared the winner, which was the University of Connecticut School of Medicine! At the end of the competition, each school got to donate their items to their chosen charity organization and a $100 donation collected from ACP council members was awarded to the winning school.
CTACP students look forward to planning more collaborative events throughout the school year, promoting interest in internal medicine as well as supporting our Connecticut communities.
The end of the academic year is exciting for many reasons, but our favorite is the honor of bestowing the ACP award to graduating seniors. Please congratulate this year's winners listed below.
- Roshni Patel, MD; University of Connecticut School of Medicine
- Jared Thomas, MD; Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
- Rebecca Fine, MD; Yale University School of Medicine
Diversity Committee Update
The Diversity Committee has had a busy year with three events hosted so far.
Our first event was titled “Visa Q&A session” which was hosted on April 2, 2019 to meet the visa needs of our diverse international medical graduates who are currently in residency training and allow them an opportunity to learn about their immigration options following completion of their residency. This was attended by residents from training programs across the state.
Our second was event an educational event hosted on April 4, 2019 titled “Identifying Patients Appropriate for Hospice and Palliative Care”. Dr. Abhishek Kumar, director of Vitas Health care discussed tools that can be readily employed by any physician to identify patients appropriate for palliative care or hospice in any healthcare setting. This interactive event was well-attended and there was a diverse representation from physicians, medical trainees, APRN's, RN's and other healthcare providers from all across the state.
Our latest event was a family picnic at the Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, CT on Saturday, July 20th. This was the very first event of its kind organized by the chapter to bring all members and nonmembers together with their families to network, mingle and relax on a perfect beach day. We had 25 attendees including families who showed up and brought ethnic food to share. The chapter provided breakfast, snacks and lunch. The chapter rented the event room at the Meigs Point Nature Center at the beach which was perfect as this was a much-needed air-conditioned room on a hot summer day. The first hour was spent with the nature center staff who brought live turtles and snakes, shared how these animals lived in their habitat and allowed kids and their families to pet these beautiful animals. We spent the rest of the day mingling with each other and enjoying snacks, meals, and the beach itself. It was great to see trainees, physicians in private and academic practice all show up under one roof, get to know each other and relax outside of work with their families on a beach. We hope to make this an annual event. Several members of the Diversity Committee and Governor's Council were in attendance including former chapter Governor Rob Nardino; Sujata Prasad, MD, FACP; Enrique Pacheco, MD; and Naseema Merchant, MD, FACP, FHM.
Our last event of this year will be our annual “Women in Medicine Networking breakfast which will be hosted at the annual chapter meeting at the Connecticut Convention Center on October 25th. We again hop to see many women physicians and medical trainees there. This year, we are also exploring the possibility of an informal coffee at the end of the meeting day to invite everyone to share ideas on how the Diversity Committee can meet their needs and what programs would be most useful to our members.
Naseema Merchant, MD, FACP, FHM and Amir Mohammad, MD (Co- Chairs)
Sujata Prasad, MD, FACP; Enrique Pacheco, MD; and Ayesha Chaudhry, MD: (Members)
Diversity Committee
Connecticut ACP
2019 Connecticut ACP Annual Meeting Update
We are less than 14 weeks away from our chapter's annual meeting on October 25, 2019. This year, we again we will offer a wide variety of educational , networking and wellness sessions keeping in mind the educational needs of our diverse membership as well as feedback from past meeting attendees.
In addition to the popular annual sessions of resident posters, Doctors' Dilemma®, the Women in Medicine Networking breakfast, and SEP modules in Internal Medicine and Hospital Medicine, we will additionally host a total of 12 CME sessions offered in parallel. The meeting will again feature three tracks in the morning (one track for residents and medical students, a second track on predominantly outpatient-focused topics, a third track focused on hospital medicine-based topics.)
The poster judging will start at 7:00 AM, followed by the SEP module sessions and Women in Medicine Networking breakfast. The main scientific program will start shortly after 10:00 AM. Lunch will feature a short address by the national ACP president Robert McLean, MD, FACP followed by poster awards and chapter award presentations. Afternoon sessions will include topics on outpatient and inpatient care. The formal program will conclude after a short annual business meeting approximately at 5:00 PM.
What is new this year?
- More sessions than ever - 12 total with up-to 5 CME and MOC credits
- A new session on physician wellness titled, “Wellness World Café”
- SEP modules will be offered once early in the morning as opposed to afternoon
- National ACP president Dr. Robert McLean will address the audience at lunch
- ACP CT annual meeting app will be launched for the first time this year
- Reduced-rate parking vouchers will be offered to those who complete the evaluation form onsite
Our committee has worked very hard to make sure there is time in between sessions as well as extra time at lunch to allow travel to sessions, networking, mingling and Q&A with speakers. We have an awesome line up of speakers from within our state and beyond and we are super excited to hear them.
Encourage your residents to prepare abstracts for submission and clear out your schedules to be able to attend. You do not want to miss this fantastic CME program right here in your state in an accessible and a great location.
We plan to offer online registration again this year. The brochure will be available soon. Stay tuned and look out for another email with registration brochure or check out our Facebook page.
Please mark your calendars for October 25, 2019. Hope to see everyone this fall at the annual meeting!
Naseema Merchant, MD, FACP, FHM and Diana Sewell, MD, FACP (Co-Chairs)
Annual Meeting Planning Committee
Connecticut ACP
Look for this year's meeting app! We will have a new addition to the festivities with an app that allows you to see the program, provide feedback, and hopefully add to your experience.
New Chapter Members – Last Six Months
Please join me in welcoming the following new members to our chapter:
| Syed H. Abbas, MD | Xiao-Ke Gao, MD | Chidi Okoroafor |
| Medhat Abdelmessih, MD | Patricia Garcia | Hollis Onell-Meyer |
| Jennifer Abrams | Mariana Garcia, MD | Jean-Michel Oquet |
| Sandrine Irene Achoundong Kountchou | Arun Gautam | Okari Owate |
| Edin Adilovic, MD | Robert Gionfriddo, DO | Ginamarie Papia |
| Agura Afiari, MD | Vanitha Gopal, MD | Lovin Pappy, MD |
| Rami Ahmad, MBBS | George Goshua, MD | Selena Patel |
| Maryam Ahmed | Kamika Gower-Allum, MD | Iqra Patoli |
| Deborah Akanya, MD | Alani Gregory, MD | Melissa Peires-Hughes |
| Faisal Al Bahrani | Valeria Grijalva | Curtis Perry |
| Amritha Alapati | Alec Guerzon | Mubashir Pervez, MD |
| Ahmad Alharbi, MD | Karthik Gunachelvan, MD | Pratibha Phuyal |
| Amar Alkhotani | Neil Gupta, MD | Jose Pichardo |
| Ismail Almokyad, MBBCH | Sonali Gupta, MD | Emily Pinto Taylor, MD |
| Florymar Alvarez, MD | Kelly M. Hager | Kathleen Pressoir |
| Sasraku Amanor-Boadu | Shanzay Haider, MD | Zahra Qaiyumi |
| Jolanta Amblo, MD | Carol Halasan, MD | Mandeep Singh Rahi, MBBS, MD |
| Amulya Amirneni, MBBS, MD | Steven Hardy | Aashutosh Ramakar |
| Karan Amlani | Lyndsay Hauser | Akshatha Rao |
| Magdelene Amoateng | Sloane Heller, MD | Robyn Reese |
| Tulasi Annapureddy, MBBS | Benjamin A. Howell, MD | Mildred Rivera |
| Maria Antony | Philip Ireland, MD | Melanie Robinson, MD |
| Victor Arcega, MD | Jeremy Jacox, MD | Darve Robinson, MD |
| Nathaniel Bachtel | Marla Jalbut, MD | Sonali Rodrigues |
| Ju Young Bae | Saad Bin Jamil, MBBS, MD | Arnaldo Abraham Rodriguez |
| Joseph Bahgat | Deepa Jansen, MD | Camila Rodriguez Buljubasich |
| Isabel Balachandran, MD | Shahab Jazayeri | Marian Saba |
| Priyadarshini Balasubramanian, MD | Ajantha Jesudasan, MD | Alifaiz Saiyed, MD |
| Ela Banerjee | Priyanka Jethwani, MBBS | Waqas Salam |
| William Beliveau, MD | Jacob J. Jones | Mahta Salehi |
| Jemma Benson, MD | Saurabh Joshi, MD | Colby Salerno |
| Jan Bewersdorf, MD | Talal Kaiser | Matthew Sarubbi |
| Max Biondi, MD | Kavitha Kalluri, MBBS | Sidra Sarwar, MD |
| Jeffrey Bird, MD | Nasreen Kathrada, MD | Sajed A. Sarwar, MD |
| Christopher J. Boyle | Marissa Keenan | Christopher Schayer |
| Bryan Brown, MD | Faraz Khan, MD | Veronica Schmidt |
| Bruce Burnham, MD | Hira Khan | Adarsha Selvachandran |
| Valentine J. Burroughs, MD | Muhammad Sheheryar Khan | Aniket Sharma |
| Karen Cajiao | Neelam Khetpal, MBBS MD | Pete Shenoy, MD |
| Adi Carmi, MD | Alina Kifayat, MD | Anton Shimanovsky, MD |
| Brett A. Carroll, MD | Alina Kluk | Evgeny Shkolnik, PhD |
| Herbert Castillo Valladares | Maryfrances Kokoska | Prateek Shukla, MBBS |
| Simon A. Castro, MD | James Koola, MD | Komaldeep Singh |
| Agustina Cerana, MD | Julia Kostka | Alvinesh Singh |
| Maria Cerana, MD | Sunil Kumar | Sidhant Singh, MBBS |
| Abdelkader Chaar | Sumit Kumar, MD | Munit Singh, MD |
| Rishi Chadha | Pirkash Kumar, MD | Sanil Skaria, MBBS |
| Pavan Challa | Manish Kumar, MD | Yauheni Solad, MD |
| Arista S. Chand, MBBS | Francis Kuttamperoor, MD | Sara Soliman |
| Jungsoo Chang | Young J. Kwak, MD | Joongyu D. Song |
| Mariana Chang | Trisha Kwarko | Eric L. Soriano |
| Samir Chaudhry | Yitzchok Lederman, MD | Katherine Spiegel |
| Shehrose Chaudry | Hwan Lee | Jeremiah Stitham, MD, PhD |
| Ankit Chhoda, MBBS | Russell Lewis, MD | Anna Stransky |
| Nora Chokr, MD | Ezra S. Lichtman | Hanns Christoph Stretz, MD |
| Cindy Hsini Chu | Kevin Liu | Anusha Sundararajan |
| William Ciurylo | Jamie Mahfood | Aysha Tandon, MD |
| Emily Coleman | Sanam Mahmoudzadeh | Maryam Tanweer |
| Matthew Colna, MD | Tanya Majumder, MD | Jianling Tao |
| Derek Corporon | Ali Malik | Shrija Thapa |
| Penelope Amanda Cote | Rajiv Mallipudi, MD | Jared Thomas |
| Katelyn Crowley | Miguel A. Mantilla, MD | Andrew Thorp, MD |
| Usman Dar | Rusudan Matcharashvili | Soumya Thumma, MD |
| Laura Dellalana | Sarah Mattessich | Kristin M. Torre |
| Samir Dengle, MD | Claire McCutcheon, MD | Jessica Tuan, MD |
| Pankil Desai | Mieses Fabiola, MD | Vruksha Upadhyay |
| Jessica R. Deslauriers | Fernanda Miletto, MD | Sarah Urbut |
| Krista Dionne | Angela Mirabella | Theodora Vamvouris, MD |
| Sylvester Dorobisz | Mohammadhassan Mirbolouk, MD | Armando Vera |
| Dimitrios Drekolias, MD | Mojtaba Mirzaei, MD | David Vermette, MD |
| Christopher D’Souza, MD | Mrinalini Modak, MD | Jaimy Villavicencio, MD |
| Nha Duong, DO | Neil K. Mohindra | Niurka J. Visconti, DO |
| Mehreen Elahee | Haritha Mopuru | Rebecca J. Vitale |
| Shabnam Elahi | Armenia Mordan, MD | Andrew Wakeman |
| Ismail Elkhattib, MBBS | Jared Moreines | Di Wu, MD |
| Ahmed Elshafie, MBBCH, MD | Kaylan Mucci, MD | Alexander Yang |
| Ahmed Eltanbedawi | Mian Munir | Yuan Ying, MD |
| Thomas Erwes | Julieta M. Munoz Mejia, MBBS | Beverly Yu |
| Muhammad Farooq | Christine Najjar, MD | Alp Yurter |
| Sana Fatima | Syed Naqvi | Adnan A. Zaidi |
| Michael Foti | Usama Bin Nasir, MBBS, MD | Vadim Zaytsev, MD |
| David Fraulino, DO | Christine Niedbala | Xuechun Zhao |
| Isaac Freedman | Roozbeh Nikooie, MD | Chanjuan Zhong |
| Anita Gade | Peggy O’Connor | Bushra Zia, MD |
| Sowmya M. Gadey, DO | Camila Odio, MD | |
| Pavan Ganapathiraju, DO | Lisa O’Donovan |
New Fellows – Last Six Months
Congratulations to our chapter members newly elected to ACP Fellowship:
Kevin M. Baran, MD, FACP
Benjamin M. Cherry, MD, FACP
William M. Delaney, MD, FACP
Jeanine S. Famiglietti, MD, FACP
Cynthia R. Feher, MD, FACP
Serafima M. Glouzgal, MD, FACP
Adam B. Gorelick, MD, FACP
Peter N. Herbert, MD, FACP
Karl L. Insogna, MD, FACP
Tzivia Moreen, MD, FACP
Maheshkumar I. Patel, MBBS, FACP
Mohammed Qureshi, MD, FACP
William G. Rabitaille, MD, FACP
Aleksandra Rosinski, MD, FACP
Mary J. Scheimann, MD, FACP
Contact Us
Ideas or comments? Send them to me through the following venues: ctacp@lutinemanagement.com for responding to these newsletters, our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @ConnecticutACP.
“It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.”
—Amelia Barr
Respectfully,
Rebecca Andrews