Maryland Chapter News
Maryland ACP News Highlights
Maryland ACP International Medical Graduate (IMG) Committee
The Maryland International Medical Graduate (IMG) Committee has added an amazing set of co-chairs, Dr. Heranmaye Prasad and Dr. Varun Lakhmani, as we are move forward with several new projects and initiatives.
Interested in being a part of this committee? Please contact the the chapter.
To learn more about the IMG Committee, visit the Maryland International Medical Graduate (IMG) Committee page.
Maryland ACP Announces New Early Career Physicians Committee Leadership
The Maryland Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP) is excited to welcome the new leadership team of the Early Career Physicians (ECP) Committee for 2026-2027.
Visit the Maryland Early Career Physicians Committee page for more information on the leadership team and committee.
2026 Maryland ACP C. Lockard Conley Award
It is with great pleasure that the Maryland ACP Chapter selects Dr. Surendra Marur as the 2026 recipient for the C. Lockard Conley Award. Dr. Marur completed medical school at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India, in 1998 and then internal medicine residency at Wayne State University, followed by an MPH at University of Michigan. He served in Michigan as a faculty hospitalist and general internist until 2007, when he moved to Maryland and to GBMC. There, he has become a cornerstone of their residency program—as mentor, teacher, leader, and role model. He serves in multiple roles – that of a teaching hospitalist, primary care physician, associate program director, chair of the Clinical Competency Committee, and director of multiple clinical and educational initiatives. For the past twenty years, he has helped judge at the Maryland ACP resident conference and has contributed meaningfully to our chapter’s Doctor Dilemma Competition. This year, he took over as the director, organizer, and question-editor of our Doctor Dilemma competition, assuming that heavy mantle of responsibility from Dr. Deepak.
Dr. Marur also serves the Editor-in-Chief of JCHIMP, where he champions resident scholarship and publication. He is chairing GBMC’s inaugural Research and Innovation Day, a major initiative to promote academic inquiry and scientific exchange.
Beyond his titles and responsibilities, Dr. Marur is a remarkable educator, known for being approachable, insightful, and always available.
We are very pleased to honor Dr. Marur with the C. Lockard Conley Award.
Chapter Members Presenting at Internal Medicine Meeting 2026
(February 2026) We are proud to recognize our chapter members who will serve as faculty presenters at ACP’s Internal Medicine Meeting 2026, taking place this April in San Francisco, California.
| First | Last | Topic | Course Code | Date | Start Time | End Time | Format |
| Timothy | Niessen | Mastering the Bedside Clinical Exam | CSBCE | Clinical Skills Center | |||
| Timothy | Niessen | Ultrasound Controversy: Is the Physical Exam Obsolete? | PN 001 | Friday, April 17, 2026 | 2:45 PM | 3:45 PM | Panel |
| Mihir | Patel | Demystifying Obesity Medicine for Primary Care Physicians | CW 006 | Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 7:00 AM | 8:00 AM | Clinical Workshop |
Congratulations to Steven Kravet on National Award
(December 2025) We are pleased to announce that Steven J Kravet, MD MBA MACP is the recipient of Mastership.
Mastership (MACP®)
ACP Bylaws state that MACPs shall be Fellows who have been selected because of “integrity, impact in practice or in medical research, or other attainments in science or in the art of medicine.” MACPs must be highly accomplished persons demonstrating impact in practice, leadership, health policy, or in medical research. Evidence of their achievements can come from many types of endeavors, such as renown within their field and/or ACP chapter, positions of honor, research, education, health care initiatives, volunteerism, administrative positions, care of patients, and service to their community. ACP involvement is highly valued though not required. ACP involvement may include, for example, service to the College in an official capacity, participation in chapter activities, participation in College committees, and involvement in the development of College educational programs.
Please join me in congratulating them and celebrating this accomplishment at Internal Medicine Meeting 2026 in San Francisco, California. To view the full list of national awardees, click here.
Congratulations New Chapter Fellows
- Farah S Hasin, MBBS FACP
- Nahar Saleh, MD FACP
- Lauren E Berninger, DO FACP
- Aaron J Charles, MD FACP
- Gino M Freeman, MD FACP
- Adrien L Janvier, MD PhD FACP
- Fern M Jeffries, MD FACP
- Thomas C Laskow, MD FACP
- Iris Leviner, MD FACP
- Gregory M Lucas, MD FACP
- Lakshmi Meenakshisundaram, MBBS FACP
- Elizabeth Menachery, MD FACP
- Corina C Nava Suarez, MD FACP
- William S Queale, MD FACP
- Antoinette F Newman, MD FACP
- Farhan A Shah, MD FACP
- Mahyar Toofantabrizi FACP
(December 2025) Congratulations to the Chapter's new Fellows. Fellowship in the College is an honor. Being an FACP® is a distinction earned from colleagues who recognize your accomplishments and achievements over and above the practice of medicine. The most important considerations for ACP Fellowship are excellence and contributions made to both medicine and to the broader community in which the internal medicine physician lives and practices.
2025 Chapter Excellence Award-Gold Level Winner
(September 2025) We are pleased to announce that our chapter is in receipt of the Gold Level of the 2025 Chapter Excellence Award! The award recognizes truly extraordinary chapters that surpass excellence in chapter management. We are in the company of 68 other outstanding chapters. In order to achieve the Gold Level of the Chapter Excellence Award, 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, 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.
Maryland Chapter Receives the 2025 John Tooker Evergreen Award
(May 2025) 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 Maryland Chapter received the 2025 John Tooker Evergreen Award for their initiative, Connecting and Supporting Through Stories: Monthly Story Swaps.
Connecting and Supporting Through Stories: Monthly Story Swap
Our newly created Wellness Committee identified social isolation as a concern for our members. Aware of the cohesion benefit of sharing personal stories and modeling on a popular Baltimore storytelling event, we created our own virtual story telling event.
We have hosted a total of 18 story swaps since the program’s inception with over 400 different individuals participating at least once. Starting in 2023, the wellness event allows attendees to discuss a particular issue, providing a venue for story tellers to feel empowered, supported, and heard regardless of their career trajectory. Since that time, there have been many varied themes selected from “Signature Strength at Work” to last month’s “We are in this Together.
Special thanks to this program’s key contributors:
Hari Devkota, MD, Maryland Chapter, Wellbeing Committee Chair
2024 Chapter Excellence Award-Gold Level Winner
(August 2024) We are pleased to announce that our chapter is in receipt of the Gold Level of the 2024 Chapter Excellence Award! The award recognizes truly extraordinary chapters that surpass excellence in chapter management. We are in the company of 59 other outstanding chapters. In order to achieve the Gold Level of the Chapter Excellence Award, chapters must meet 20 Bronze criteria, 14 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.
2024 John Tooker Evergreen Awards
(April 2024) The John Tooker Evergreen Awards Program provides opportunities to recognize the valuable contributions of ACP Chapters as they strive to enrich, educate, and engage membership. In 2024, ACP recognized ten winning chapters. Our Chapter received the 2024 John Tooker Evergreen Award for our initiative, CRAB Soccer Tournament
CRAB Soccer Tournament
In 2014, our Chief Residents Association of Baltimore (CRAB) proposed a soccer tournament with teams from each residency program in Maryland. The goals were to promote well-being through physical activity, foster camaraderie among residents from different programs, and with the Maryland ACP Chapter. The tournament has grown each year and is now one of the most important events our chapter hosts. We encourage non-soccer players to come and enjoy dinner, cheer on others, and post on social media. By 2023, 100 residents and family members were in attendance with 7 teams.
For more information on the John Tooker Evergreen Awards, contact Dana Acord.