Dear Colleagues,

We have put together an exceptional continuing medical education program for this year’s Annual Convention. We are pleased that outstanding speakers from both the Academic and Private sectors have agreed to participate. The CME committee has particularly sought and included some talented young physicians as part of the faculty of speakers. You may notice that we have experts belonging to 16 different specialties to feature as our speakers for this year’s CME and at the conclusion of the program, we are confident that the attendees will have a better understanding of the latest advances in medicine. The attendees will also receive 8 AMA/PRA Category 1 Credits for participating in these informative sessions.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the other members of the CME committee and also my friend Dr. Wiji S. Ratnathicam who was instrumental in us getting the CME credits.

Sincerely,

Alexander Kuruvila, M.D.
CME Chair.

RECENT ADVANCES IN MEDICINE – 29th ANNUAL AKMG POSTGRADUATE COURSE

Friday, June 27th, 2008 7.30 AM – 11:45 AM

1) Diabetes, A world Healthcare Crisis of the 21st Century –Update 2008: Chandrasekhar Varma, M.D., Asst. Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California School of Medicine, San Diego, California.

2) Evidence-Based Management of Congestive Heart Failure: A Clinician's Perspective: Ravindra Nathan, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.P., F.R.C.P., Director, Hernando Heart Clinic, Brooksville, Florida.

3) Update on the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis: Kottil W. Rammohan, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Director of the Div. of Clinical and Experimental Neuroimmunology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

4) Acute Pancreatitis: Rama P. Venu, M.D., F.A.C.P., Clinical Professor of Medicine and Director, Therapeutic Endoscopy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Break:  9:30 AM- 9:45 AM

5) Recent Advances in Asthma Management: Susheela Bala, M.D., M.R.C.P., Chief of Allergy Section, Veterans Administration Loma Linda Healthcare System, Loma Linda, California

6) Current Update on Sleep Apnea: Narendra R. Kumar, M.D., Medical Director, Sound aSsleep Diagnostic Lab, Saginaw, Michigan

7) The Epidemic of Hypertension, Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease: Ranjit K. Cheriyan, M.D., Chairman, Dept. of Medicine, Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, Virginia and Section Chief, Dept. of Nephrology, Innova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Virginia

8) Late Life Depression – Clinical and Neurobiological Circuits: Anand Kumar, M.D., Professor, In Residence, University of California at Los Angeles and Director, Div. of Geriatric Psychiatry, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, Los Angeles, CA

RECENT ADVANCES IN MEDICINE – 29th ANNUAL AKMG POSTGRADUATE COURSE

Saturday, June 28th, 2008 7:30 AM – 11.45 AM

1) What is New in Total Hip Arthroplasty in 2008?: Rama E. Chandran, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon in Private Practice and member of Arthritis institute - Centinela Freeman Medical Center, Inglewood, California.

2) Recent Advances in Cardiac and Vascular CT and MR: Mariam Thomas, M.D., Clinical Fellow, Diagnostic Cardiovascular Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, California.

3) Acupuncture, Advances in Medicine: Abraham C. Kuruvilla, M.D., Attending Physician, MedPro, Phoenix, Arizona.

4) Reducing the Risk of Cervical Cancer - HPV and the Vaccine: Prasanna Menon, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Women in Focus Medical Group (Private Practice), Mountain View, California.

Break: 9:30 AM- 9:45 AM

5) Autoimmune Diseases – Molecular Target Towards Therapy: George K. Chandy, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California.

6) Osteoporosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Update: Suman Thakker, M.D., Attending Rheumatologist, Desert Valley Medical Group, Victorville, California.

7) Recent Advances in Oncology: Sant P. Chawla, M.D., President, Sarcoma Oncology Center, Santa Monica, California and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles,California

8) Functional Neurosurgery: Ajay K. Ananda, M.D., Attending Neurosurgeon and Neurosurgical Director of Trauma, Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) through the joint sponsorship of the Westchester Academy of Medicine (WAM) and the Association of Kerala Medical Graduates (AKMG). The WAM is accredited by the MSSNY to provide continuing Medical Education for physician. The WAM designates this educational activity for a maximum of 8.0 AMA/PRA Category 1 Credits. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The Westchester Academy of Medicine adheres to ACCME standards regarding commercial support of continuing medical education. All speakers participating in Continuing Medical Education activities are expected to disclose to the program audience any real or apparent conflict/s of interest related to the content of their presentations.

CME Committee: