Rhode Island Governor's Newsletter June 2026
Kwame O. Dapaah-Afriyie, MBchB, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Welcome
Dear Colleagues, as we enter another summer, we do so with renewed hope and optimism after a brief, warm spring, and a challenging February 2026 blizzard.
New Colleagues, Faculty and Soccer World Cup Visitors
In the next several weeks, we will welcome a number of adult learners (resident and fellows) in Rhode Island. A number of new faculty members will also be joining various clinical departments.
Our new colleagues, like many of us, have diverse impactful career journeys. Some stories are especially inspiring, such as that of Shay Taylor-Allen; a former janitor at Yale New Haven Hospital, she returns to the same hospital as a resident in its Anesthesiology program at Yale School of Medicine.
- All our new colleagues will need mentorship, and I hope we create the right environment to support their professional well-being.”We make a living by what we get, but make a life by what we give” - Winston Churchill. “If you are going to live, leave a legacy. Make a mark on the world that can't be erased.” - Maya Angelou
- Our chapter Residents and Fellows' committee will host a welcoming ceremony for new colleagues in July.
In addition to our new learners and faculty, we also expect an influx of international visitors for the World Cup, with some matches being played in Foxborough, Massachusetts. RIDOH, in partnership with our ACP chapter and other professional organizations, is developing and distributing educational materials for physicians and other healthcare professionals. The goal is to raise awareness and support the timely identification and management of infections and other medical conditions.
National ACP Leadership Day Events
As usual, our chapter participated in the national ACP Leadership Day events. Over four hundred ACP members from 49 States participated in this year's Advocacy program. Our chapter attendees met with the Rhode Island Congressional delegation to advocate for 3 major ACP 2026 legislative session priorities, which are:
- Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act.
- Protecting Free Vaccines Act
- Provider Reimbursement Stability Act
Let us all hope for the desired results from the above advocacy campaigns amid the current polarized political environment.
Wishing you a summer season filled with joy, peace and cherished memories!
Chapter News
Committee Highlights
Residents and Fellows
Thanks to Mery Deeb for her enthusiastic leadership of this committee.
The last committee meeting for this academic year, which was about financial wellness was held on 03/25/2026.
Mery will be joining Brown University Health as one of our Rheumatologists. Her planned involvement in the activities of the Early Career Physicians committee is very much appreciated.
The new leaders of this committee are Carl Atallah, Amanda Lussier, Charmi Trivedi, Jatin Thukral and Manolya Usman.
Early Career Physicians
Early Career Physicians had a well-attended panel discussion on: Alternative Physician Careers on Wednesday, May 13.
Internal Medicine Interest Group (IMIG)
Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Ben Ahn is the 2026 RI Chapter of American College of Physicians' Outstanding Student Award recipient.
Health and Public Policy
HPPC leadership led some members of the chapter to be part of RI Medical Society Advocacy Day which was held at the State Capitol on 05/14/2026.
ACP and RIMS held another joint program on health care policy on 05/26/2026. Dr Adam Gaffney a Health Policy Researcher at Harvard Medical School delivered a lecture titled: The cost of care- Understanding healthcare affordability in America.
ACP Leadership Day activities were held in Washington, D.C on 05/12 and 05/13. This is an annual opportunity to gain more knowledge and experience about ACP's advocacy issues and to spend time with our state representatives in Washington, D.C. Our chapter's delegation included 4 medical residents from 3 of our state's residency programs and a medical student from Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
With Representative Gab Amo
Mentorship Zone
What are we learning? Who are we learning from? Who are we transferring insights to?
Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
The one who waters will also be watered.
In this newsletter, we get to learn from Mindy Sobota MD MS MPhil FACP. Dr Mindy Sobota is Associate Professor of Medicine specializing in internal medicine and reproductive health care. She is an internal medicine physician and clinician educator affiliated with Brown University Health and Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.
She was the recipient of our chapter's Woman Physician of the Year Award in 2023.
Mindy Sobota MD MS MPhil FACP
I grew up in Boston, the child of transplants from Pittsburgh who were involved in the civil rights, anti-war and feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Those early values shaped my sense of the importance of advocacy – especially around reproductive rights. In school, I was interested in science, art and languages but it was not until my senior year at Brown that I considered medicine at the suggestion of a career advisor (none of my family members were doctors or nurses, but my white privilege and grades surely helped).
Postgraduation, I had to complete some pre-med classes and get a job, which led me to work for two years as a research assistant to Mike Stein in Division of General Medicine in Rhode Island Hospital. It was a fantastic experience – I recruited and interviewed injection drug users from needle exchange and methadone clinics and got to hear some of their stories. I then went to NYU for medical school, Montefiore for residency and Oregon Health & Sciences University for my first job as a clinician educator – in a community health center that served as a residency training site. There I developed my niches in reproductive health and musculoskeletal procedures. In 2014 my husband, 2 kids and I moved back to RI to be closer to family and I was thrilled to (re) join the Division of General Internal Medicine at Brown. I now work at our faculty-resident practice at the Center for Primary Care in South Providence, where I see my primary care patients and supervise residents, including in our musculoskeletal procedure clinic and reproductive-gender clinic.
Why did you choose to specialize in Internal Medicine?
Fundamentally, I love that internal medicine can be both complex and holistic. In medical school I pondered ob-gyn and family medicine because of my interest in reproductive health. No doubt my early exposure played a role in choosing internal medicine– I had been inspired by shadowing people like Jody Rich and Kelly McGarry and observing them communicate and develop deep relationships with their patients.
What are the 2-3 major factors that have helped you in this profession?
Outstanding, supportive Division Chiefs (all 5 have happened to be women!) have been the single most important factor that has helped me in this profession. My division chiefs found viable ways to develop my niche interests in musculoskeletal procedures and reproductive & gender health. Having niche clinics has helped break up the week and feel a little more expert in something (internal medicine is still so broad and hard!). My Division Chiefs and Chair were also incredibly supportive when I was dealing with life adversities. This support, flexibility and humanity has been key in developing my career and preventing burnout.
What has kept you in this profession in the midst of the challenges?
The challenges are real and deeply felt by all of us. Leadership is key as I have alluded to. For me, the patients and trainees continue to be the most rewarding part of the job and our longitudinal relationship continues to deepen. Internal medicine never gets old – there's always more clinical content to learn and more ways to do things better. Our multi-disciplinary team has been a partial antidote to the inbox and continues to expand, for which I am immensely grateful.
Any thoughts you want to share?
I am truly proud to be member of ACP! Only in recent years have I started to get involved, and I am truly impressed by the advocacy at the chapter and national levels. Especially in a very challenging time for health care, to say the least, it is good to feel that our professional organization is working hard to make things better. It is one thing to raise your voice as an individual and another thing entirely to work as part of an organization of 160,000 physicians to advocate for a better world.
From National ACP
The outcome of April 15th 2026, Business meeting of the Board of Governors (BOG) as per the required subsequent input from ACP Board of Regents are as noted here
The final IMG Inclusion Steering Committee (IMGISC) report
The report provides a comprehensive overview of the College's IMG inclusion work, including implementation efforts tied to the original BOR goals, sustainability planning, chapter and council engagement, advocacy efforts, membership data, national programming, and ongoing initiatives across ACP.
The report also highlights the work of the IMG Workgroup, collaborations with councils and chapters, IMG-focused member engagement efforts, coaching initiatives, and partnerships supporting international medical graduates across the College