From the President
“Value” is a word that is thrown around a lot in health care. When it comes to MedChi, we are driven by a desire to return value to our member physicians through our work to serve as an advocate and resource to physicians, patients, and the public health. While that sounds good as an overall guiding principle, it is important for us to show the value by celebrating wins, acknowledging challenges, and engaging with members to meet those goals.
Some of the most visible efforts for MedChi focus on state-level advocacy, mostly during the three-month session of the General Assembly. We have had significant legislative victories in recent years that have made a difference in the everyday life of our physicians and patients. These include maintaining payment for Medicaid services at or above Medicare rates for all specialties, lessening the burden of Prior Authorization, modernizing the statutes for Physician Assistants while controlling scope of practice concerns, and ensuring that our patients have access to preventive screening and testing for some of the most common forms of cancer. A notable example of how MedChi can work efficiently was seen just in the past year. After a membershipwide survey revealed a strong concern over non-compete clauses, a resolution was adopted in the Fall House of Delegates in 2023. Although initially more focused on concerns within dentistry, HB1388 was brought forward to address this issue (Thanks Delegate Dr. Terri Hill!). Largely through the efforts of MedChi and our friends, the bill was shepherded through the system to passage, and within one year, the will of the HOD was achieved!
The work of MedChi does not end with the legislative session in April. MedChi has strong relationships within the state’s regulatory bodies, including Maryland Health Care Commission and the Health Services Cost Review Commission, and MedChi is regularly invited to advise or participate in these commissions’ work. Our members serve as commissioners, and our CEO Gene Ransom serves as the CoChair of the Episode Quality Improvement Program (EQIP), which has been a highly successful value-based care initiative for many physicians and patients in the state. In 2024, we have been highly engaged with the discussions around the AHEAD model and the continuation of the Maryland Medicare waiver, and we continue to push our members’ priorities to both State and Federal stakeholders.
MedChi has a series of services available year-round, including educational activities around the regulatory environment, the history of medicine in Maryland, practice economics, and public health. There are resources to assist with contract negotiations, to successfully participate in the Primary Care Model, and to maintain best-in-class insurance policies, which help all physicians, regardless of the setting or specialty of practice.
This is only a partial list of what MedChi can do for you as a member. For many of these initiatives, MedChi has led the nation and served as a model for other states to show what can be achieved. The staff at MedChi is phenomenal and enables us to succeed in most of our endeavors. Nevertheless, none of the efforts discussed here would have a chance at success without the leadership, expertise, and active involvement of our physician members. You set the priorities at the House of Delegates, in the Committees, through the components, and at every level of the organization. The best way to help MedChi return value is to get involved!
— Ben Lowentritt, MD
What You Need to Know Now
• Several key health measures took effect July 1, including the addition of vaping to the Clean Indoor Air Act. The legislation extends the ban on smoking in public indoor areas under the Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA) to include “vaping.” Signage that states “No Smoking or Vaping” must be conspicuously posted. Additionally, policy and access were heavily amended to address student telehealth appointments in public middle and high schools. A full summary of legislation passed this General Assembly can be found on the Advocacy page of MedChi’s website, under Legislative Wrap-Up 2024.
• A PDMP Refresher webinar is available for credit through MedChi’s CME Program. Developed in collaboration with the Department of Health, the webinar covers the most recent updates in the PDMP, including valuable clinical tools and reports available in the CRISP Portal. The webinar is presented by past President Gary Pushkin MD. For more information contact CGeorge@medchi.org.
• MedChi has an Insurance Watch Hotline. This number was established to help physicians register complaints with the Maryland Attorney General about health insurer practices that jeopardize patient health and interfere with care. You can file a complaint here: https://insurance. maryland.gov/Consumer/Pages/FileAComplaint.aspx. For more information about contact 410.539.0872.
MedChi’s Strategic Plan Outlines the Organization’s Focus on Serving as Advocate and Resource
Catherine Johannesen, CAE, MedChi Chief of Staff
In 2023, MedChi adopted a new strategic plan. The plan was adopted after four years of introspection, collaboration, and consideration. With the support of an outside consultant, MedChi convened a team of senior leaders and component society directors to identify challenges and opportunities, analyze threats and weaknesses, and brainstorm major initiatives.
Throughout the process, volunteer physician leaders were consulted to ensure that the process and its outcomes were fully aligned with member priorities. Ultimately, a forwardinglooking “future impact” survey of members and potential members was conducted to assess physician priorities for their state professional association. With research and creative input from the strategic planning committee and physician focus groups, the survey was designed to inform MedChi’s future business model and resourcing strategy. The strategic plan is the result of these efforts.
In addition to reaffirming our existing mission, the plan codified our value premise and outlined our organizational values:
Value Premise: MedChi is Maryland’s statewide unified platform for thought leadership, advocacy, and professional development in medicine.
Organizational Values
Integrity: MedChi operates with honesty and transparency. Inclusion: MedChi welcomes all physician voices and facilitates diverse participation in all projects and processes. Innovation: MedChi leads the ongoing dialogue on the future of medicine in Maryland.
Impact: MedChi is the premier advocacy platform for Maryland’s physicians.
The strategic plan is structured on three Foundational Pillars. Each Foundational Pillar is bolstered by Strategic Initiatives that articulate the focus of MedChi’s efforts. Most Strategic Initiatives have a two- to five-year horizon. Some initiatives may not commence until the second or third year of the strategic plan implementation. A corresponding action plan will be developed to articulate the initial assumptions about the potential impact, challenges, sequencing, and financial implications of each initiative. These initial assumptions are to be tested as each initiative is developed and executed. MedChi’s core values of integrity, inclusion, innovation, and impact will guide the tactics, prioritization, and resource allocation for each of the initiatives for each fiscal year during the Strategic Plan.
Foundational Pillar 1: Improve Physicians’ Professional Quality of Life
• Enhance MedChi’s robust advocacy strategy for increasing physician payments to be more equitable with other states.
• Influence the development of the Maryland All-Payor Contract and other alternative payment models.
• Support physicians’ awareness, acceptance, and utilization of emerging healthcare technologies.
• Establish an advisory committee on physician well-being, personal development, and professional success.
• Establish a private practice consulting division to provide practice management assessments and related services to improve medical practice efficiency and revenue potential.
Foundational Pillar 2: Support the Health of Maryland’s Patients
• Improve MedChi’s legislative and regulatory communications mechanisms to unify the physician voice and maximize our influence on laws and policies that impact physicians and their patients.
• Support the role of physicians as leaders in addressing behavioral health.
Foundational Pillar 3: Ensure MedChi’s Long-term Organizational and Operational Excellence
• Address operational and infrastructure challenges that cause inefficiencies and impede success.
• Realign component medical society structure to maximize operational effectiveness and deliver optimal member services.
• Develop a membership growth and engagement strategy for employed physicians and their employers.
• Implement a comprehensive, integrated marketing and communications plan.
MedChi’s services are delivered via four centers: The Center for a Healthy Maryland; The Center for the Private Practice of Medicine; The Center for the Employed Physician, and The Center for Value-Based Care. Each Center caters to the specific needs and employment situation of MedChi’s physician members and other stakeholders.
Strategic Plan Implementation
Upon approval by MedChi’s Board of Trustees, this Strategic Plan was adopted by the MedChi House of Delegates at the 2023 annual meeting, providing a clear framework for our highest priorities as your advocate and your resource.
Catherine Johannesen, CAE, is MedChi’s Chief of Staff. She can be reached at cjohannesen@medchi.org
MedChi’s Component Societies: Empowering and Engaging Physicians
Susan G. D’Antoni, FAAMSE
Component societies are MedChi’s direct connection with physicians in every Maryland jurisdiction. Through engagement at a local level, component societies serve physicians’ professional needs and build positive relationships with physicians, the medical community, elected and public health officials, and the community as a whole.
Component societies are separate organizations with their own boards of directors. They often develop programs and services to serve their physician needs in their local areas and provide a forum for physicians to come together to share best practices and raise concerns related to the delivery of patient care.
MedChi and component societies are unified in membership meaning that physician members are members of both at the state level and the component society of their choice. With this unique collaboration, component societies and MedChi work together to bring value to physicians across Maryland through education, advocacy, practice development, practice support, participation in policymaking, and leadership development.
“programs coordinated by MedChi component societies encourage physicians to be a part of the important advocacy efforts at the state and national level. These events and activities provide physician members with an excellent opportunity to become informed and effective constituents. Physician members can also represent component societies on MedChi’s Council on Legislation which reviews all legislation pertaining to the practice of medicine and access to care.
Component society executives are registered lobbyists in Maryland and meet weekly with MedChi and their lobbying team to stay up to date on legislation and strategy.
Only MedChi has universal respect, connections, and expertise in the state legislature to advocate for physicians in Maryland. Maryland State legislators always look to MedChi for its opinion to see if MedChi supports or is against any bill that relates to the practice of medicine in our state.
— Lawrence Green, MD, Aesthetic & Dermatology Center, former MCMS President
Component Societies Offer Educational Programming to Improve Clinical Knowledge and Practice Management Efficiency
Education is a primary purpose of associations. Component societies recognize the importance of providing educational opportunities to their members and practice staff.
Continuing medical education (CME) programs are offered on clinical, public health and socioeconomic issues. Practice management sessions help physician practice staff be updated on regulatory, legislative, and best practices in practice management.
Topics for educational offerings often come from member input via surveys, program evaluations, or listening sessions which may be conducted by component societies.
Educational sessions are offered in-person or virtually, and medical societies engage content experts (physicians, consultants, accountants, and attorneys) to be speakers.
Component Societies Are Integral to MedChi’s Successful Advocacy Efforts
Annual lobby days in Annapolis, grassroots constituent skills training, annual legislative breakfasts, and Key Contact
Component societies also mobilize physician members to actively respond to MedChi’s legislative alerts during the session and provide testimony in committee. Whether it is a public health, scope of practice, or tort reform issue, your component society is integrally involved in MedChi’s advocacy strategy on behalf of all physician members. If you are interested in becoming more active in the legislative arena, contact your component society executive director.
Component Societies Offer Networking Opportunities
Component societies throughout Maryland offer an array of networking and social opportunities for physician members. These networking events are an excellent way of connecting with physicians of many different specialties to build new referral relationships. These events consist of smaller afterhours events to intimate collegiality dinners to large networking events held in conjunction with annual meetings or other celebratory galas. Bringing physician members together is a valued service of component societies as they attempt to break down silos and encourage physicians to interact with each other to share common challenges and best practices, and to have fun!
Component Societies Are Supportive Partners & Resources to Physician Members and Their Practice Staff
Component society staff are poised to help physician members with their questions about licensing, insurance concerns, medical records retention requirements, and many more aspects of practice. During COVID, component societies were the “boots on the ground” with physicians and their practice staff to navigate
changing regulations and immunization availability. Component societies helped physicians keep their practices open during the pandemic. Component society staff develop relationships with other organizations, agencies, and corporations to help find answers and solutions for physicians’ questions.
Component Societies Are Critical to MedChi Policymaking
MedChi policymaking starts at the local level. Through listening sessions and forums, component society leaders and staff learn of physician challenges in providing care to their patients. If these challenges are widespread, component societies have a responsibility to bring these concerns forward to MedChi, especially if solutions may require regulatory or legislative action.
“I joined MedChi because I was frustrated and overwhelmed by prior authorization policies. For the past four years, I worked with legislators to ensure meaningful reform passed. I educated legislators on the challenges faced by solo practitioners treating patients with very complex conditions. I testified before the House Health & Government Operations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee about the adverse outcomes for patients due to delayed and denied care. MedChi gave me the platform to hold insurance carriers accountable for their decisions.
— Erinn Maury, MD, Mid-Atlantic Rheumatology, Anne Arundel County Medical Society
Component societies are allotted a certain number of delegates based on their total active membership in MedChi to MedChi’s House of Delegates (HOD), which meets twice each year. Component medical society boards of directors may submit resolutions about their members’ issues through the HOD process. These resolutions are then considered by the full HOD, which meets once in person and once virtually each year.
The power of one individual physician when he/she works through a component society to affect change at the state or national level is significant.
If you would like to be considered as a delegate, or if you have a patient care or practice concern that is impacting your ability to provide care, please contact your component society executive.
Component Societies Provide Leadership Development Opportunities
Component societies’ boards of directors, committees, and task forces represent an excellent way for member physicians to obtain
EDITORIAL STATEMENT
Editorial Offices: MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society; 1211 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201; 410.878.9897
Advisory Board: Bruce M. Smoller, MD (Chair); Stephen J. Rockower, MD (Vice Chair); Gene Ransom, III, Esq (CEO, MedChi); Susan G. D’Antoni (MedChi Director of Publications); Susanna M. Carey (Production Editor)
Managing Editor: Victoria Hecht, 410.878.9897; vhecht@medchi.org
Advertising: Victoria Hecht, 410.878.9897; vhecht@medchi.org
valuable leadership development training and experience. Members with previous experience in other health care organizational leadership often gravitate to medical societies to use their skills, abilities, and talents to lead on a local level.
When physician members express interest in getting involved and exhibit leadership qualities, component societies are a perfect place to roll their sleeves up and get to work. This experience also can be an excellent way for physician members to learn more about medical association governance and operations, which will be helpful to them if they are interested in advancing to state or national level medical associations.
Many component presidents become board members of MedChi as trustees and then serve as officers and even as President, and even as delegates to the American Medical Association. Several component societies host leadership development training and/ or support those initiatives at the state level.
Component medical societies provide many other member benefits. Each is unique in the way it serves its physician community. Working together with MedChi, component societies support statewide initiatives to create value for members and to help physician members and their practices thrive. If you are interested in leadership opportunities in your component society, reach out to your component society executive.
Susan D’Antoni, FAAMSE, is CEO of Montgomery County Medical Society. She can be reached at sdantoni@montgomerymedicine.org.
All opinions and statements of supposed fact expressed by authors are their own, and not necessarily those of Maryland Medicine or MedChi. The Advisory Board reserves the right to edit all contributions, as well as to reject any material or advertisements submitted.
Copyright © 2024. Maryland Medicine, The Maryland Medical Journal. USPS 332080. ISSN 1538-2656 is published by the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, 1211 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, and is a membership benefit.
All rights reserved. No portion of this journal may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Advertising in Maryland Medicine does not imply approval or endorsement by MedChi unless expressly stated.
DISCLAIMER: Some articles may contain information regarding general principles of law. They are not intended as legal advice and cannot be substituted for such. For advice regarding a specific legal situation, consult an attorney licensed in the applicable jurisdiction and with appropriate training and/or experience in the legal area in question.
MedChi Member Exclusive: Model Employment Contract
Victoria Hecht
A headline on the AMA’s website reads: “It’s not just your physician employment contract. It’s your life.” While this may sound dramatic and even overblown, the importance of physicians thoroughly understanding employment contracts with hospitals or related entities before signing on the dotted line cannot be overstated. The employment agreement not only dictates the next year or two of a physician’s career but could potentially negatively impact his or her personal and professional life for years to come.
“MedChi is the only member organization representing all physicians across Maryland. We are all so busy in our day to day lives that it’s difficult to stay abreast of all the issues that affect us and our patients. MedChi keeps us up to date on medical, payer/ insurance, and legislative issues and has an incredible network of colleagues through which we can affect change. A particular benefit of MedChi is its free contract review service — incredibly helpful whether you are a graduating resident or career physician changing jobs. The cost of membership more than pays for itself! Information, services, networking with colleagues, and paying it forward — these are the values MedChi provides.
As an exclusive members-only benefit, MedChi provides a Model Employment Contract, which has been recently updated for 2024 with counsel from Baltimore-based attorney Carolyn Jacobs, of Jacobs & Dembert, P.A. MedChi’s Model Contract is intended as a road map, covering areas such as physician duties, compensation and benefits, the physician’s right to exercise personal and professional judgment, noncompete provisions, and even termination. The Model Contract shines a bright light on many crucial contract areas that many physicians would not bother to consider in advance. It is not designed to be pro-employee or pro-employer. Nor is it intended to be used verbatim, as the language in real-life contracts must reflect the specific situations and negotiations between the parties.
— James Williams, DO, Emergency Medicine, BCMS
employer from a position of strength. Additionally, if you were promised something by the prospective employer during your initial discussions, it is essential that the promise be expressly articulated in the contract. Do not assume that the employer will abide by that promise if it is not in the contract.” One “deal breaker” issue that Stafford is vigilant about relates to tail coverage and the need to have clear language that ensures that you will not be “on the hook” to pay for tail coverage upon separation from an employer. Failing to negotiate favorable and clear language regarding this issue can be disastrous when the physician parts ways for a new opportunity.
MedChi’s Model
Jamaal W. Stafford, Esq., a Columbia, MD, based lawyer whose firm specializes in physician contracts, advises physicians to take the position that any terms that aren’t favorable can — and should — be made more amenable. “While some items might be nonnegotiable, you should definitely question anything that’s intentionally ambiguous or clearly and explicitly unfair,” Stafford said. Common examples he cites are contracts that contain little detail about expectations of work schedules or on-call requirements. “Essentially, anything that is vague or an overreach should be spelled out,” Stafford noted, adding “it is important to understand what your ‘deal breakers’ are and to do your best to have multiple employment options so that you or your lawyer can negotiate with the prospective
Employment Contract is not a substitute for professional advice. It’s a tool for physicians at every notch on the career spectrum to educate themselves on the ins and outs of an employment contract so that they can better understand what is at stake. “Keep in mind that your contract dictates how you will be paid, and compensation structures are becoming increasingly complicated,” Stafford noted. “That’s why it’s really important that physicians understand those structures and if necessary, seek out legal review.” It’s not uncommon for compensation methodologies to incorporate a half-dozen components beyond base salary, such as incentive bonuses or “clawbacks” (monies returned to the employer for underperformance or other reasons) based on quality measures, cost metrics, patient-specific clinical measure reporting, and shared-savings, to name a handful.
“Most people lack the time or the patience to comb through an employment contract, and they’re essentially dull to read. But I cannot stress how important it is to know what you’re getting into before you find yourself in a situation that is vastly different from what you envisioned,” Stafford cautioned. “Every physician would benefit from consulting with legal counsel before signing an employment contract. Skipping this step could potentially result in unnecessary frustration and expensive litigation. Measure twice and cut once.”
The Model Employment Contract for members can be found at: www.medchi.org/contract
The Center for a Healthy Maryland Participates in Leadership Cruise
On May 30, 2024, the Center’s Executive Director Allan Browder took to the seas of the Inner Harbor with other nonprofit leaders for a Directors & Leadership Happy Hour Cruise. Organized by Shauntee Davis and Danielle Walter Davis from the Baltimore National Heritage, leaders from museums, main streets, recreation planners, neighborhood associations, and more set sail on The Pride of Baltimore II with the goal of coming away with a better understanding of what each other does as well as exploring ways to help strengthen the Baltimore community. Participants from the Baltimore business community included Nancy Proctor of the Peale Museum, Katie Caljean of the Maryland History and Culture Center,
Jayson Steer from The Creative Alliance, and Janenne Whitfield, project lead on Baltimore’s Harborplace Experience.
Participation and collaboration are central to the Center’s mission of strengthening partnerships between communitybased organizations that positively impact businesses and residents in the community. The Center anticipates hosting future events with like-minded leaders at its newly opened Museum of Maryland Medicine. For updates on the Center’s events and programs, visit www.healthymaryland. org
BCMS Hosts Inaugural Mid-Summer Soiree
Baltimore’s beautiful Cylburn Arboretum was the inviting venue for Baltimore City Medical Society’s (BCMS) reimagined annual presidential event, held on July 13, 2024. Current BCMS President, Neal Naff, MD, poses with members of the BCMS past Presidents’ Circle.
What science can do
Next generation therapeutics
Advancements in biotechnology have expanded our toolkit of drug modalities. This provides an opportunity to design therapeutics for disease mechanisms previously considered difficult, if not impossible, to target and enables our scientists to pioneer new approaches to drug discovery.
VEEVA
Washington County Medical Society Members Gather for Dinner and Networking
On May 8, 2024 Washington County Medical Society held its Networking Meeting — an opportunity for physician colleagues to gather for dinner and networking at Cafe Del Sol East in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Top photo: Mitesh Kothari, MD, President of Washington County Medical Society, Sanjay Saxena, MD, and Vice President of Washington County Medical Society, Bill Su, MD.
Bottom photo: Samuel Rao, MD, and Anne Rao, MD.
MedChi Awarded 2024 AAMSE Profile of Excellence Award
At its annual meeting in August, the American Association of Medical Society Executives (AAMSE) formally recognized MedChi’s leadership role in the creation and ongoing progress of a federally approved advanced payment model. This model — called EQIP, has proven immensely beneficial, both for participating physicians and for the broader health care system. MedChi CEO Gene Ransom accepted the 2024 Profiles of Excellence Leadership Award on behalf of MedChi. Pictured with Mr. Ransom is AAMSE Past President Sylvia Salazar.
The Quest for Relief from Emotional Pain: An Exploration
Fires In The Dark, Healing the Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison
Reviewed by Bruce Smoller, MD
The process of healing defies linear description. It is an oftenelusive thing, composed of one part physical, one part mental, one part mystery and a dollop of the bond between healer and patient. The process is difficult to capture in a book precisely because it is so protean, a tissue of the scientific, medical, psychological, and magical.
Johns Hopkins professor of Psychiatry and Psychology Kay Redfield Jamison and the author of An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness (1995), as well as many notable academic and literary tomes, has written what she feels is a sequel to the original An Unquiet Mind, which was a wellreceived and widely read memoir of her own quest for healing.
Part biography, part historical text, and part hagiography, this follow-up book is an ambitious attempt to detail the process of healing by case review, personal travails, and broad cultural sweeps of healing throughout history. Jamison devotes many pages and great intellectual effort toward describing the chaos and agonies of the trenches of World War I: the terrible toll it took on the soldiers — both physical and emotional, and the nascent attempts to heal what was then described as shell shock and would later morph into combat fatigue and eventually emerge renamed as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Readers of Maryland Medicine may recall a previous review of the book The Facemaker, by Lindsey Fitzharris, which explored this topic from another angle.
The greater and most poignant parts of Fires in the Dark are clearly reserved for the treatment of those agonized souls mutilated in mind and body in the trench warfare of the Western Front. Jamison achieves this in two main thrusts: the rather rarified treatment of the WWI poets, such as Seigfried Sassoon and Robert Graves, and an exposition of the wartime experiences of William Osler and WHR Rivers, both of whom she obviously holds in great reverence and affection.
WHR Rivers was a neurologist, psychiatrist, and anthropologist, who was also vitally involved in the emotional healing of shell and gas torn soldiers. He treated Sassoon with psychotherapy and tried to devise methods of healing in the early stages of the development of psychotherapy.
Extrapolating from the very personal to the general can be an effective way to teach and it works to some extent here. However, it ultimately devolves into so much laudatory detail that the thrust of the book is waylaid and, ultimately, so is the reader’s attention.
I learned fascinating details about Osler, Rivers, Sassoon, and Paul Robeson. Robeson was a famous African American singer in the 1930s whose rich and resonant voice could summon chills, yet whose skin color could summon vile indignities (much like Lous Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald). Robeson, who suffered from affective illness, is used to illustrate the cultural context of disease and reminds us that healing must involve all the theaters of a life.
I appreciate Jamison’s efforts to include all the facets of healing and the extensive research behind this book. With over 125 pages of annotations, it is clearly well thought out. As a modern-day physician, I know firsthand that healing involves a bio-psycho-social model. In my fifty-year career as a psychiatrist, I have seen too many examples of the dangers of omitting one sphere of a life in the healing process.
William Osler, MD, of course, needs no introduction to Maryland physicians, as he was MedChi’s 47th President from 1896 to 1897. Considered by many to be the Father of Modern Medicine, he was also Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University. He served as Physician to the British Army during WWI, as did Harvey Cushing (more later) and was deeply involved in methods of healing and ministering.
While I enjoyed many parts of this book, its cohesiveness was compromised by too many foci. Perhaps that is a measure of the challenge of trying to place healing within a framework: it is too large and sprawling a topic to fit into a single tome. Jamison’s writing is poignant and meaningful, and the individual details are fascinating — as other people’s lives often can be. But in the end the book can’t decide whether it is a textbook, a history or an ode. If the reader understands this going in and has a high tolerance for loose storytelling and lack of closure, Fires in the Dark can indeed be a stimulating read.
Bruce Smoller, MD, a former MedChi president, is a psychiatrist in Montgomery County who consults for the Federal Government. He can be reached at Bruce.Smoller7@gmail.com.
MedChi’s Newest Physician Members
MedChi welcomes the following new members, who joined between May 20, 2024, and August 19, 2024.
Fatima Abdo
Mona Abraham, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Gajendra Acharya, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Selamawit Addissie, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Oluwalonimi Adebowale — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Devika Agrawal, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Syed Saif Ahmed, MD — Capital Neurology and Sleep Medicine
Zoe L Ajebon, DO — Liberty Pediatrics & Family Medicine
Ariful Alam, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resdiet Group
Marcelino D Albuerne, MD — Marcelino D. Albuerne, MD
James P. Amerena, MD — Privia Health LLC
Inas M Anderson, MD — Privia Health LLC
Nadia Angov, MD — First Medical Associates
Valorie L Anlage, MD — Primary Pediatrics
Meghana Annadata, MD — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Rakesh Arora, MD — Rakesh Arora, MD, FAAFP, PA
Richard Artola, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Joseph Ashwal, MD — Privia Health LLC
Joseph E. Asuncion, MD — Privia Health LLC
Odolphe Augustin, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Tihitina Aytenfisu, MD
Justin Baird, DO — Tidal Health Anesthesiology Residents Group
Konrad W. Bakker, MD — Privia Health LLC
Rankumar Balasubramanyian, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Paul Thomas Barbera, Jr., MD
Syeda B. Bareeqa, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Lawrence Barnoski, DO — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Soha BazyarSohaBazyar
Michael Bejjani, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Steven M Berlin, MD — Privia Health LLC
Shivani Bhatnagar, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Andre Biuckians, MD — Vascular Surgery AssociatesLLC
Marlana Sheridan Bollinger, MD — Privia Health LLC
Sara E Brooks, MD — Rockville Internal Medicine Group
Steven F Brown, MD — Privia Health LLC
Caroline Burley, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Jerome Canady, MD — Washington Hospital Center
Richard Cannella , DO — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Alex Casella, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Ausim Mahboob Chaghtai — Privia Health LLC
Ashika Chaluvadi, DO — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Esther Chan, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Maegan R. Chaney, MD, FAAP — Privia Health LLC
Sagar Chapagain, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Denise Chevalier, MD — Privia Health LLC
Susie N Chung, MD — Privia Health LLC
Bryce Churilla, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Kristin M Clark, MD — Privia Health LLC
James Douglas Clarke, MD — Privia Health LLC
Carlos E. Covarrubias, MD — Privia Health LLC
Kelly Joyce Cowen, MD — CowenPrivia Health LLC
Matthew Crow, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Alexandria Daniels, MD — Tidal Health Anesthesiology Residents Group
Maumita Das, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Vivian A. De Jesus, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Vivian Dechosa, MD — Privia Health LLcC
Heyue Du, MD, PhD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Sarwat Ehsan, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Yehuda Eidensohn, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Ibrahim K. El Mikati, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Jennifer Elliott, CMM — JenniferElliott
Ayi Eta, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Aneeza Farooq, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Umme Ferdaush, MD —Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Neeraj Gandotra, MD — Privia Health LLC
Wyatt Glasgow, DO — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Lourdes Gonzalez, MD — Bethesda Pediatrics
Christian Griffin, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Abdullah Guhman, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Larissa Aylin Guran, MD,FACOG — Larissa Guran
Yoonhee Ha, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Taj Hadee, MD — Privia Health LLC
Abdul Hanan, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Kaila Holloway, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Safana Ismail, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Tariqul Ismail, MDTariqulIsmailTidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Arpita Jajoo, MDArpita JajooJohns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Sang Ho Jee, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Muhammad Jibran, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Sa Do Kang, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Aparna Kanjhlia, MD — Aparna Kanjhlia
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Comprehensive risk management education programs that earn CME and premium credits
A large collection of online resources
Superior service from experienced, local Insurance Producers (Agents)
Tomasz Kasprzycki, DO — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Zachary Kassir, MD —Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Nathaniel Kastan, MD —Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Matthew Keenan, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Lisa I. Keithley, MD — Lisa Keithley
Huzaifa Khalid, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Junaid Khan, MD —Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Richard Kreilach, DO — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Matthew Lankiewicz, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Andrew Lazris, MD —Personal Physician Care
Jenny Le, MD — Jenny Le Bethesda Pediatrics
Sohemi Pagan Leon, MD —Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Daniel Li, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Julia Loosen, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Zachary W. Lorenz, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Laura Maas, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Reginald Manuel, MD — Tidal Health Anesthesiology Residents Group
Alexander Mathew, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Michael McCabe, MD — Peninsula Regional Medical Center Internal Medicine Resident Group
Michael E. McCarthy, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Charlee McClean-Powell, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Mary Metkus, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Deborah Mi, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Ashley Moats, DO — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Karen E Moffett, MD — Karen Moffett
Karinnet Monterro-Diaz, MD — Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Yusuf A. Mosuro, MD — Yusuf Mosuro
Alinafe Mpada, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Marium Gul Muhammad, MD — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Hania T. Mumtaz, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Kunwal Nasrullah, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Ahmed Nawa, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Gracie Nguyen, DO —Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Joseph Outmezguine, DO — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Ahmad OzairAhmadOzair
Rohit Pandit, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Sonia Pandit Zaft, MD — Privia Health LLC
Elise Paranto, DO — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Kunal Parikh, PhD — Kunal Parikh
Christina Parisi, MD — Christina Parisi
Sunwoo Park, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Parth S. Patel, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Viraj Patel, DO —Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Brenda Pellicane, MD — Icon Dermatology & Aesthetics
Chad Perman, MPA — MD Primary Care Program
Carlos Picone, MD — Chevy Chase Pulmonary Associates
Nancy Pina, DO — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Thomas Pinckert, MD — Greater Washington Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Karen V. Plunkett-Reid, MD —Karen Plunkett-Reid
Pallavi Pokharel, MD — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Allan Pollack, MD — Rockville Internal Medicine
Lynne Posorske, MD — Montgomery Infectious Disease
Hartaj K. Powell, MD —Holy Cross Hospital
Rojoana Rojony, MD —Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Amy Rost, DO —Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Anand Saha, MD — AnandSaha
Nicole Salfi, MD — NicoleSalfi
Jeffrey Schneider, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine
Residency Program
Ian Schonman, MD — IanSchonman
Juliana Selaru, MD — Privia Health LLC
Pooja Selvam, MD —Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Anna Shah, MD —Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Mubasshar Shahid, MD —Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Juwairiya Shuroog, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Emily Skoda Mount, MD — Privia Health LLC
Talia B. Smith, DO — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Shawn Smyth, MD — Privia Health LLC
Baby Snigdha, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Fotis Souslian, MD — LifeBridge Neurosurgical Associates
Adam Stern, DO — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Andrew Suchan, MD —Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Ralitza Tacheva, MD — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Erica Tan, MD — Privia Health LLC
Daniel S. Thomas, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Nancy Tran, DO — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Camille Upchurch, MD — Northwest Hospital
Thuy Vuong, DO — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Tiffany M Wiggins, MD, FACOG, MPH — UMMS Leadership
David Winston, DO —Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Catherine Wu, MD —Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Yavuz Yalcin, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Nahome Yebassew, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Benjamin Yonko, DO — Tidal Health Surgical Residency Program
Ali Zarandazchi, MD — Meritus Family Medicine Residency
Zhong Zheng, MD — Tidal Health Internal Medicine Resident Group
Julia B. Zirpoli, MD — Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency Program
Andrew Zucker, DO — Tidal Health Anesthesiology Residents Group
It Was a Grand, Grand Opening!
Meg Fairfax Fielding
For the past three years, The Center for a Healthy Maryland has been working on creating a museum of Maryland’s medical history and MedChi’s, incorporating items from MedChi’s collections of historic books, instruments, illustrations, artifacts, and art.
Phase I opened in September of 2022 with an exhibit showing the diversity of recent presidents, including Roland T. Smoot, MD, who was elected as the first Black president in 1983. Phase II opened in October of 2023 with the display of the Napoleon Case, the opening of the Rare Book Room, and a portrait display of MedChi’s immediate past presidents.
On June 3, 2024, members and friends of MedChi gathered to celebrate the organization’s 225th anniversary on the very date of its first meeting in 1799, and to open Phase III of the MedChi Museum of Maryland Medical History. Welcome speeches were given by CEO Gene Ransom; MedChi Board President Ben Lowentritt, MD; Center Executive Director Allan Browder; and Center President Stephen Rockower, MD. There was a symbolic ribbon-cutting, and guests were entertained by the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra.
The Museum is pleased to feature an exhibit of “Urine and War,” courtesy of the American Urological Association’s Didusch Center for Urologic History in Linthicum. The exhibit features numerous vignettes about the use of urine as a component in explosives (and how it altered the course of history), and includes a panel on Napoleon at Waterloo, which coincides with MedChi’s display of Napoleon’s medical chest from the Battle of Waterloo.
The MedChi Museum of Maryland Medical History is open by appointment only. Tours may be arranged by contacting Museum Curator Meg Fairfax Fielding at mfielding@medchi.org
MedChi Calendar of Events
A complete list of MedChi and component events can be found at: http://www.medchi.org/Calendar-of-Events
SEPTEMBER
17: Opioid Pain & Addiction Committee Meeting
18: BCMS Event — What Would You Do If You Received a Patient Complaint?
18: BCMA Board Meeting
19: MedChi Board of Trustees Meeting
26: St. Mary’s County Medical Society Networking Meeting
27: Center For A Healthy Maryland Maryland Physician Health Program Research Symposium
OCTOBER
5: Baltimore City Medical Society Financial Independence: Your RX for Success
9: Calvert County Medical Society Networking Meeting
10: Maryland Dermatologic Society Membership Meeting
10: Baltimore City Medical Society Board Meeting
15: Reference Committee Meeting
16: Frederick County Medical Society Networking Meeting
25: 225th Anniversary Grand Finale Event
26: MedChi Annual Meeting/Fall House of Delegates Meeting
NOVEMBER
6: Maryland Neurological Society Fall Business Meeting
13: Baltimore County Medical Association Board Meeting
14: Baltimore City Medical Society Board Meeting
19: Baltimore City Medical Society Foundation’s Annual Furlong Memorial Lecture
19: Opioid Pain & Addiction Committee Meeting
