North Dakota Governor's Newsletter January 2026

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Joshua C. Ranum, MD, FACP, ACP Governor

Joshua C. Ranum, MD, FACP, ACP Governor

Welcome to 2026.

“May you live in interesting times.” Is this a blessing or a curse? There's a lot happening in healthcare policy right now - expiring ACA subsidies, ever-increasing insurance premiums, and the upcoming special session regarding the rural health transformation grant. All great reasons to become involved with ACP advocacy and policy.

Ways to become involved:

  1. Visit the ACP Advocacy website
  2. Join the ACP Legislative Action Center
  3. Contact your state and/or congressional representatives about issues important to you
  4. Join the North Dakota Chapter Health Policy Committee. There's several of you who have expressed interest in advocacy, and I'd like to get a formal committee started to turn interest into action.

If this is something you're interested in, please contact me for more info:

701-928-0987 - text or call
acpnd1@gmail.com - chapter email

Another great way to become involved is to attend ACP's Leadership Day on Capitol Hill. This year's session is May 12 and 13. The chapter has helped pay for expenses in past years. If you are interested, let me know soon so we can get you registered. More information here.

The Internal Medicine Meeting is only 3 months away. This year's meeting is April 16-18 in San Francisco. Register here.

In other chapter news, we'll be announcing our next Midwest Regional webinar session soon. This will take place in March. Thanks to those who attended and presented at our last session on rural graduate medical education.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact me about any ideas or suggestions you have for the chapter.

 Immigration Enforcement Impact

ACP recognizes the impact that violence, fear and uncertainty is having on the health and well-being of immigrant communities in Minnesota and elsewhere, and as well as the impact that immigration enforcement efforts are having on people seeking medical care and the clinicians who care for them.

ACP is available to help with immigration-related state advocacy efforts. We have identified that some states are considering legislation to increase protections for immigrants in light of the recent federal actions. If your chapter is considering supporting (or opposing) certain legislative efforts, or if you have other advocacy activity you are considering on the issue, please reach out to ACP national for assistance via the Advocacy Assistance Request Form.

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 Coming Soon: New ACP MKSAPSM Feature Helps Physicians Build Customized Learning Plans Based on ABIM Assessment Results

ACP® and ABIM are excited to announce a new collaboration that will allow ACP MKSAPSM subscribers the option to import their most recent ABIM assessment results to their ACP MKSAP account.

The new feature can be used by ACP MKSAP subscribers to build a customized ACP MKSAP Learning Plan based on missed ABIM assessment questions or topic areas where they feel they would benefit from additional knowledge. The new feature will launch on February 25, 2026, and will be included at no additional cost for ACP MKSAP subscribers.

The new feature in ACP MKSAP will import recent results from the following assessments:

  • Internal Medicine Certification Examination
  • Internal Medicine Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA®)
  • Internal Medicine: Inpatient LKA
  • Internal Medicine: Traditional, 10-Year Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Exam
  • Internal Medicine: Inpatient Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam

With the addition of this new feature, ACP MKSAP represents the first national Precision Education System for practicing internal medicine physicians. It complements ACP MKSAP's Internal Medicine In-Training Examination® (IM-ITE®) Feedback feature, which enables physicians-in-training to import educational objectives from incorrectly answered IM-ITE questions into their ACP MKSAP program. Together, these tools allow physicians to easily identify and aid in closing knowledge gaps throughout their careers.

This new feature is a valuable tool that supports physicians throughout their practice years in their dedication to the profession as they keep current in their knowledge of internal medicine and the subspecialties.

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 Exciting Changes to ACP Publications

Effective in January 2026, ACP will be implementing important changes to our publications to reduce our carbon footprint, curb expenses, and streamline content delivery. ACP members will be able to access these publications using their ACP login information.

Changes will include the following:

  • I.M. Matters from ACP (formerly ACP Internist), which has been published in print for over four decades, will transition to a monthly online-only publication and will be combined with the companion e-newsletter I.M. Matters Weekly from ACP.
  • I.M. Matters News will be a new monthly feature in our flagship publication, Annals of Internal Medicine.
  • Weekly Delivery: ACP members will continue to receive clinical and College news weekly under the I.M. Matters name.
  • Monthly Digest: On the last Tuesday of the month, ACP members will receive an electronic table of contents via e-mail with links to all content published that month.
  • Exclusive Member Benefits: I.M. Matters from ACP, ACP Diabetes Monthly, and ACP Gastroenterology Monthly will join ACP Hospitalist as exclusive benefits of ACP membership.

These changes will allow us to continue providing our members with trusted and valued information in a more efficient, accessible, and environmentally responsible way.

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