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In this Issue:
- Governor's Message
- Message from your outgoing Governor
- Congratulations New Chapter Fellows
- ACP Internal Medicine Meeting, Spring Board of Governor's Meeting
- ACP Leadership Day
Lewis W. Aldred, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Message
I am excited and nervous to serve as the new Mississippi Governor of the ذكذكتسٍ¤. I want to give a tremendous thank you to Dr. Otis Gowdy on his incredible four-year term. He crowned his term with a 2024 Chapter Excellence Award, Silver tier. He has made a significant impression at the national level of ACP, and I hope to follow his example.
Over the past decade we have seen a big increase in community based internal medicine programs throughout the country as well as here in Mississippi. One of my goals as Governor is to help connect these residencies to the ACP in hopes of creating lifelong members. I have started by adding a representative from each of our state's residency programs to the Governor's Advisory Council, so that they will have their voices heard.
I am also excited to welcome our members to Gulfport this year for our annual chapter meeting that will be held May 30th to June 1st at the Centennial Plaza Resort. The planning committee led by Dr. Ashley Villarreal has put together a wonderful agenda. Please visit our link to register. I am looking forward to an awesome year! Please don't hesitate to reach out with any comments, opinions, or concerns!
L. Wesley Aldred, MD, FACP
Message from your outgoing Governor
It has truly been an honor and a pleasure to serve as your Governor of the Mississippi Chapter of the ذكذكتسٍ¤. This role has been more of an award than I could have ever imagined. I have met so many wonderful people across our state and throughout the country. The opportunity to represent all the members of this great chapter was complete joy.
I have had the privilege of sharing the ideas and accomplishments of our amazing students, residents, and physician leaders from Mississippi on a national stage. Visiting our residency programs across the state and meeting the talented physicians caring for our communities has been inspiring. The energy and enthusiasm from our students, residents, and fellows have been a constant source of motivation for me.
Through direct interactions with our members, I have learned so much about what matters most to our medical community. I am proud that, together, we continued to move the chapter forward, enhancing our recognition and engagement with national leadership. We worked hard to improve our standing in the Chapter Excellence Award, achieving Silver Status this year—a wonderful accomplishment recognized at the Board of Governors meeting.
It has been a joy to hold our chapter meetings in some of the amazing cities across our state, helping us connect with physicians in their local communities. Over these past four years, I have witnessed the emergence of energetic new leaders who are ready to carry the torch forward.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Governor's Council for working alongside me to support our students, residents, fellows, and early career physicians in their endeavors with the College. A special thank you to our Executive Director, Christi Long—I'll certainly miss our weekly calls that kept me on task!
We are in excellent hands with the leadership of Dr. Wes Aldred, and I am genuinely excited to see what lies ahead for our chapter.
My humble thanks to you all!
Otis Gowdy, Jr., M.D., MBA, FACP
Congratulations New Chapter Fellows
William T Ford, MD FACP
Shailesh Mansukh Patel, DO FACP
ACP Internal Medicine Meeting, Spring Board of Governor's Meeting
The Spring Board of Governor's Meeting which occurred right before the National ACP Meeting in New Orleans was packed full of important business for the College including updates in Advocacy, Finances, and resolutions. I would recommend that when resolutions are released that you read them and submit your feedback directly to me at WLALDRED@gmail.com My job is to represent your opinions and interests at this meeting. This also served as the ACP Governors' Class of 2025 last meeting, and they went out in style in a wonderful New Orleans theme. I again want to thank Dr. Gowdy's for all his hard work over the past four years.
ACP Leadership Day
We had a fantastic time on Capitol Hill during ACP Leadership Day. We discussed important topics, such as Medicaid funding, Medicare reimbursement for physicians, and supporting HHS with staff members of Roger Wicker, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Michael Guest, Bennie Thompson, and Mike Ezell. Advocacy is an important part of ACP's role to support patients and physicians, and to be a part of that was a memorable experience!
Blake LeBlanc, MD
(from L to R), Blake Leblanc, Chad Hierlmeier, Niall Mehaffey, and Adnan Aziz
