Michael E. Lazarus, MBBCh, FACP, ACP Governor
Letter from the Governor
As I reflect on the past five years as your Governor there are many fond memories of advocating and working for you on innumerable ACP policy issues and grappling with the many challenges that internists face in the current healthcare climate. As I approach the final month as your Governor and conclude my term at the end of the 2024 ACP National meeting in Boston next month, this final newsletter is one of reflection and thanks.
The journey began in Philadelphia in 2019 at the National meeting where I attended as your Governor-Elect. It was incredibly exciting to meet the talented and resourceful ACP staff and my fellow Governors for the first time. There was a lot of optimism in our Chapter as the 2020 ACP National meeting was due to be held right here in our very own Southern California Region 1 at the downtown Los Angeles Convention Center. Unfortunately, little did we know that our world was about to be turned upside down and COVID-19 put our plans, hopes, and aspirations on hold. The global pandemic that was to follow led to the cancellation of not only the 2020 in person National meeting but the following year, planned for Savannah, as well. In a moment of levity as we logged in to the meeting virtually, our then Board of Governors President, Dr. William Fox of Virginia pronounced as he opened the meeting that year, 'Welcome to Zoomvanna'. It wasn't until the National meeting in 2022 in Chicago that we got to see each other in person again, inaugurate new ACP Fellows in the Convocation Ceremony and have dinner in person with ACP colleagues. As has become as quite commonplace, given the effects of global warming on our planet, in the fall of 2022 our Board of Governors meeting scheduled to be held in Savannah, was cancelled as Hurricane Ian bore down on the Georgia coastline. Fortunately, we were able to see one another in San Diego the following spring and I was proud and honored to be introduced at the opening of a National meeting by our ACP President, Dr. Darilyn Moyer, as one of the hosts. As I now look forward to attending this year's National meeting in Boston, I am energized by the many exciting things that are on the horizon.
I would like to wish my successor as your Governor, Dr. Eric Hsieh, all the best as he assumes the role at the conclusion of the National meeting in April.
Looking forward to seeing you all in Boston in April!
Sincerely,
Michael E. Lazarus, MBBCh, FACP
Governor, ACP Southern California Region I
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ACP S. California Regions I, II & III Scientific Meeting
This year's ACP 2023 ACP Chapters I, II & III Scientific Meeting took place on Saturday, October 7th at the UCLA's Covel Commons. The meeting featured a great selection of speakers on a variety of interesting topics and was attended by over 500 people.
There were 300 posters submitted by medical students, residents/fellow and early career physicians from throughout Southern California. The following resident/fellows and medical students had winning posters from ACP S. California Region I:
Left to Right: Dr. Tammy Lin (Governor for ACP S. California Region 3), Dr. Michael Lazarus (Governor for ACP S. California Region 1) and Dr. Daniel Kim (Governor for ACP S. California Region 2)
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Left to Right: Dr. Rejan McCaskill (Governor-Elect, ACP S. California Region 2), Dr. Eric Hsieh (Governor-Elect, ACP S. California Region 1), Dr. Michael Lazarus (Governor, ACP S. California Region 1), Dr. Mukta Panda (Keynote Speaker), Dr. Tammy Lin (Governor, ACP S. California Region 3 and Dr. Daniel Kim (Governor, ACP S. California Region 2).
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Medical Students – Clinical Vignettes
1st: Chelsea Pan (UCLA) - "Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Induced Rhabdomyolysis in a Critically Ill Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipient" & Jeffrey Liu (Western Univ.) - "Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Extrapulmonary Signs in High-Risk Patients"
2nd: Ryan Murphy (USC) - "Hepatic Q Fever: A Curious Case of Liver Injury"
3rd: Thomas Norman (USC) - "Fever of unknown origin in a 73-year-old female"
Medical Students – Innovation
1st: Lily Jamneshan (Florida International Univ. COM) - "From Classroom to Clinic: Medical Students' Perceived Knowledge and Attitudes on High-Incidence Mpox"
2nd: Ino Chough (USC) - "Cost-Effectiveness of Using Pleural Ultrasonography in Lieu of Chest Radiography After Bronchoscopy Procedures at a Resource-Strapped County Hospital"
Medical Students – Quality Improvement/Patient Safety
1st: Ghadi Ghanem (UCLA) - "Outpatient Hospitalist-Run Procedures Bridge the Gap in Oncology Care"
2nd: Deshaie Gehr (Kaiser) - "You've Got Mail! Improving Blood Pressure Control Through Greater Mail-Order Pharmacy Utilization"
3rd: Michael Langevin (Kaiser) - "Improving Hypertension Control with Physician-Personalized Voicemail Messaging"
Residents – Clinical Vignettes
1st: Kimberly Ding (Harbor UCLA) - "Uncommon CALM2 Mutation in Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia"
2nd: Parinaz Abiri (UCLA-Olive View) - "Pituitary Microadenoma Gone Undetected, a Case of Recurrent Hyponatremia"
3rd: Kevin Kurator (UCLA-Olive View) - "Two Cases of Health Supplement-Associated Adverse Effects" & Carlos Silva (Cedars) "Mineral Mining: A Confounding Case of Wernicke Encephalopathy"
Residents – Research
1st: Rashini Jayaratne (Kaiser) – "Streptococcal Bacteremia Due to Cellulitis: Are Oral Antibiotics an Alternative to Intravenous Antibiotics?"
2nd: Mitchell Flagg (LAMC) - "Dialysis Initiation Outcomes among Patients with & without Heart Failure in a Large Diverse Chronic Kidney Disease Population"
3rd: Siamak Kohan (LAMC) - "Acute Myocardial Infarction in Young Adults with Diabetes Mellitus"
Residents – Innovation
1st: Jessica Sworzyn (USC) - "Improving Communication Between Emergency Department Nurses and Internal Medicine Residents for Admitted Patients Boarding in the Emergency Room at Los Angeles General Medical Center"
Residents – Quality Improvement/Patient Safety
1st: April Banayan (UCLA) - "Perceived Barriers and Facilitators in Hypertension Management among Black UCLA Patients"
2nd: Anna-Claire Siena (UCLA) - "Advance Care Planning in Patients with Heart Failure" – Anna-Claire Sienna, UCLA
3rd: Harendra Ipalawatte (Los Robles Regional Medical Ctr.) - "Closing the loop on comfort care"
Early Career Physicians – Clinical Vignettes
1st: Ahmed Ghanem (Harbor UCLA) - "Chorea Hyperglycemia Basal Ganglia Syndrome in a 61-Year-Old Male and Symptomatic Treatment with Tetrabenazine"
2nd: Kyaw Khaing Soe - "Case Report: SVT utilizing left accessory pathway diagnosed by surface ECGs alone"
Residents and medical students who won first place will receive a travel stipend and their posters will be submitted for presentation at the 2024 ACP national meeting in Boston. Second and third place winners received a cash award. Many thanks to the poster competition co-chair – Drs. Sharon Kim, Roger Garrison & Stephanie Zia – and to all the judges that spent countless hours reviewing and judging abstracts/posters.
The Cedars Sinai team was the winner of this year's Doctors Dilemma ("Jeopardy") competition. Team members included Polly Kirsch, Carlos Silva Lynch & Felix Wangmang. The team will be sent to this year's ACP national meeting in Boston to compete with teams from across the country. We wish them well. Many thanks to Drs. Jarod DuVall, Miguel Angel Pena Ruiz, Ali Motabar & Tessa Antalan for their hard work in making the competition a great success!
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýDoctors Dilemma Competition Co-Chairs Dr. Tessa Antala, Dr. Jarod DuVall, Dr. Miguel Pena Ruiz and Dr. Ali Motabar
Awards
Several chapter members were recognized this year. Stephanie K. Zia, MD, FACP & Jarod K. DuVall, MD were the recipients of this year's ACP Laureate Award. This prestigious award is designed to honor those who have demonstrated, by their example and conduct, an abiding commitment to excellence in medical care, education, or research, and in service to their community. Congratulations to both of them!
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Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Jarod K. DuVall, MD
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The following members were also recognized with an ACP Southern California Region I Chapter Impact Award 2023:
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýPhysician Well-Being
Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýAneesha Smith, MD, FACP
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Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýVang Kuo Khang, MD
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Film Screening - We are the Dream: the Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest
Our chapter was honored to collaborate with the 3 other California ACP chapters on the film screening of "We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest" on January 13th at USC. The movie was followed by a panel discussion that focused on strengthening diversity within the workforce, role of leaders and professional organizations, mentorship needs and resources including for K-12 students, students, Early Career Physicians, IMGs, community outreach efforts, and microaggressions and advocacy.
Panelists included Dr. Darilyn Moyer (ACP EVP/CEO), Dr. Maggie Kozman (Pediatric Hospitalist Harbor UCLA and Co-Executive Producer of The DEI Shift), Dr. John Harold (Past President of the ACC and ACP CMSS Rep), Ophthalmologist and first African American resident to graduate from Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Florida) and , MBA (Indelible Learning - Developer of K-12 STEM educational programs along with Dr. Jasminka Criley).
Attendees included ACP IMG members, Early Career Physicians, Resident/Fellow Members, and Student Members, hospitalists and ambulatory physicians, generalists and subspecialists within IM (and ophthalmology), and community members.
Left to Right: Dr. Tammy Lin (Governor S. California Region 3), Dr. Rejan McCaskill (Governor-Elect for ACP S. California Region 2), Dr. Vineet Gupta (Governor-Elect for S. California Region 3), Dr. Rejan McCaskill Governor-Elect for ACP S and Dr. Michael Lazarus (Governor for S. California Region 1)
Left to Right: Dr. Rejan McCaskill Governor-Elect for ACP S. California Region 2, Dr. Eric Hsieh (Governor-Elect for ACP S. California Region 1), Dr. Michael Lazarus (Governor for S. California Region 1), Dr. Tammy Lin (Governor S. California Region 3), and Dr. Vineet Gupta (Governor-Elect for S. California Region 3).
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Career Day at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center Co-sponsored by ACP Southern California Chapter 1.
ACP Southern California co-sponsored a High School Career Day at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center on October 17, 2023. About 25 students from the Sylmar Biotech Health and Engineering Magnet toured various parts of the hospital and spent time with staff from multiple departments learning about careers in Healthcare. The students enjoyed getting hands-on experience in a skills lab session where they learned how to take blood pressure and enjoyed learning about point of care ultrasound. The students were provided with lunch and each given a $25 gift card. In addition, Dr. Soma Wali met with the students on behalf of ACP and highlighted careers in Healthcare and spoke on ACP's DEI efforts. We look forward to expanding this event to other medical centers and high schools, continuing to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals in our underrepresented communities!
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New ACP Fellows
We are happy to announce that the following people have been advanced to ACP Fellow in our region within the last 6 months. Congratulations!
Angela Aboutalib, MD FACP
John H Baird, MD FACP
Alanna Chau, MD FACP
Geoffrey W Cho, MD FACP
Sabitha Eppanapally, MD FACP
Manuel Hakimi, MD FACP
Cheng-Wei Huang, MD FACP
Zeinab A Hussein-Dabbah, MD FACP
Maralee Kanin, MD FACP
Johnathan Kao, MD FACP
Arun S Karlamangla, MD FACP
Manvel Kondradzhyan, MD FACP
Lara T Kose, MD FACP
Warren Christopher Lee, MD FACP
Bryan G Lopez, MD FACP
Adrian Mayo, MD FACP
Nathaniel E Meyer, MD FACP
Joy L Montes, MD FACP
Seyedehsan Navabi, MD FACP
Joon S Park, MD FACP
Kyaw Khaing Soe, MBBS MD FACP
Srija Vangala, MD FACP
Janette N Zara, MD FACP