AKMG President 2018-2019
Getting Ready…
Congratulations to President Raji Menon, Convention Chair Nigil Haroon and their team for successfully conducting the 39th Annual AKMG Convention in Ottawa, Canada.
I am humbled and indeed proud to carry on the torch, which was carried by 39 previous presidents and many more who were the Founding Fathers and so many silent and unsung Heroes of AKMG – A BIG salute to you all.
The 40th year in an organization would not have happened without the hard work of each one of you including your families. I would also like to remember those members who passed away in eternity during these years.
New York as you all know hosted the 1998 Convention under the great leadership of Dr. Sovy Joseph and Dr. John Benjamin. Since then New York has been relatively shy to take on the responsibility, partly due to the higher cost of conducting the convention.
During 2014 to 2018, New York Chapter has been the most active wing of AKMG with Quarterly CME meetings and entertainment, with the newest Young Physicians and the most active Spousal Community, and hence we decided to go ahead and host our Ruby Convention in 2019 in the heart of New York City at Sheraton Times Square on July 25th28th, 2019.
Yes, it is the 40th Annual Convention and I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the birth of AKMG as many of you know, and for those of you who don't know: AKMG was the born-on December 22nd, 1979 when few of our founding leaders gathered in the house of Dr. P. S Venkit Iyer at New Hyde Park, Long Island with Dr. C. S. Pitchumoni, N. Vijay Shankar, Krishnan Nair and Ramachandran Nair. The first General Body Meeting was held at Bombay Palace in New York City on May 24th, 1980 and now we are hosting our Ruby Convention in the same city!
Convention update is provided by the Convention Chairs.
AKMG Agenda
Humanitarian Services Headed by Dr. Prem Menon
We saw the wrath of rain water in Kerala which took all of us by surprise and devastated. So far, we collected almost $100k with the help of generous donations from fellow physicians. We can collect more for flood relief. During the last meeting with Chief Minister we proposed to make things transparent for all organizations to pitch in. We were able to provide almost 2000 water purification systems in the most affected area through 'Jeevajalam project' coordinated by Dr. Nigil Haroon and AKMG Canada.
Lal S.S. (Governing Body member) was in Kerala soon after the flood situations and he was on the front line of Disaster Relief Efforts. AKMG greatly appreciates the effort and the time he took to be there and help in the Greatest Humanitarian Crisis in our home state. Throughout his stay Lal organized a Global Experts forum including Malayali personnel from WHO, UNICEF, IMA and was able to initiate a Teleconference with all of them which provided great insights for going forward. The suggestions were greatly appreciated by Health Secretary and we hope Government of Kerala will follow through on them. Dr. Lal is proposing a permanent office in Kerala in association with other organizations going forward to help impact our community.
Mentorship Program
Presidential Committee (Drs. Majeed Paduvana, Sunil Kumar, Raji Menon and I) is already working hard to make this a reality and we hope all of you who can be a part of it should be able to join hands and support the second generation to become great physicians and dentists.
Bridging-the-Gap Initiative
Presidential Committee is diligently proposing new ideas to bring in the second generation and Young Physicians to be part of AKMG leadership and create their own identity through AKMG.
Website and Communication
We are discussing and trying to create a better mode of communication between ourselves which can project ourselves in a more authentic way by having our own email communication systems. Website will also need more upgrades as we go forward.
Regional Chapters
AKMG Canada is in very good hands under the leadership of Drs. Raji Menon, Nigil Haroon and Nisha Nigil. We appreciate their continued efforts to strengthen the Chapter. Likewise, our Regional Chapters are urged to take initiative, communicate and have chapter meetings at least twice a year. These meetings will encourage more of physicians to join and increase the activities and make us more committed to our Community. We have great presence in almost all states in this country and if we can at least have four regional chapters taking the lead and coordinating these meetings, it would be helpful to identify and bring in new generation in leadership which would lead to more enthusiasm and participation.
Likewise, we must engage more with our fellow members in the Middle East and United Kingdom. These areas have a huge presence of physicians who have their own organizations and I think when we start communicating with these groups, we will be more effective as non-resident physicians and possibly can offer more to our home state.
Finally, AKMG should not only be a convention every year, it should be a more effective platform for us to engage in main stream activities including community enrichment and politics. I hope we enjoy the fruits of all those who worked hard for us throughout these years and come forward to carry on the torch of pride and enthusiasm and make our forum effective for the betterment of the communities we live in.
Thomas Mathew MD
AKMG President
President's Convention Message
Change and Progress…
Progress is impossible without change, and those who
cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
— George Bernard Shaw
Change and Progress are intermingled in all organizations, and only when we yield to change can progress happen. Working with the best team in AKMG I see changes coming through with more comradery and more participation. More and more Chapter Meetings are being held with the formation of an official Atlanta Chapter under the leadership of Dr. Raju Kulangara. I saw much enthusiasm with more young accomplished physicians taking the lead to the successful formation of the Atlanta Chapter. As always, the senior members must kindle the light of any organization and watch them grow as it happened in New York.
The Florida Chapter is actively recruiting new members as they are in the process of hosting our 41st Convention. Team Florida is all with much more enthusiasm and with leaders like Drs. Sunil Kumar and Usha Mohandas we can expect a great Cruise Convention. AKMG Canada under the safe leadership of Drs. Nigil Haroon and Raji Menon is vibrant. We are hoping to renew and rekindle Houston and Dallas Chapters of the Texas group of physicians. Chicago, Detroit and Michigan Chapters have always been active and they play a big role in the Conventions as always. Washington has been playing a lead role in helping to spread the word and getting the Convention Registration as much as they can.
AKMG Ruby Convention
Ruby Convention preparation is in full swing and those who have registered already know a lot of updates are being loaded through the WhatsApp group. Our vibrant group of Physician Committee members under the leadership of two Convention Chairs (Unnikrishnan Thampy and Alex Mathew) are hard at work to make this the most memorable event for AKMG.
Entertainment, CME, Food, Accommodation, Transportation, Spouses, Sponsorship and Marketing Committees are hard at work. Regardless to say we are expecting the largest crowd of Past AKMG Presidents this year as all of them are excited to be part of this Ruby Convention. You will find more updates on the Convention preparations in the Convention Chair's message.
AKMG Humanitarian Services
We collected a record $100,000 for Kerala Flood Relief project with the help of all of you and we are making sure the money is spent to benefit those who need it. Dr Prem Menon will be updating on this in the Reporter.
AKMG Membership Drive
AKMG membership drive is currently in progress and I believe this is the best time to become a member of AKMG as the pricing is very cheap for life membership. Dr. Tomy Paul Kalapparambath is steering the initiative.
AKMG Mentorship Programs
Our Past Presidents Committee has almost finalized on the Mentorship programs and Bridging the Gap Initiatives which will be discussed in the New York General Body meeting. Our website, as you noticed has been more proactive and interactive in recent months, thanks to the great initiatives from Drs. Sunil Kumar and Nigil Haroon. The AKMG Reporter is still being published twice a year and its content and pictures have become more vibrant with the great selfless hard work of Dr. Krishna Prasad who makes so much effort to bring this out on a timely manner with the help of Dilip Gohil and family.
Attn: Medical Students
New York, for the first time, is allowing Medical Students who are interested in showcasing their abstracts, doing poster presentations or volunteering for the convention to register for free for the convention. We have sent out an appeal to all AKMG members to help us sponsor a Medical Student with a contribution of $299. This appeal can be as a donation to AKMG or sent directly to our Convention Chair: Dr. Alex Mathew, 872 Abbott Street, East Meadow NY 11554.
On a somber note, we lost a few of our colleagues during this past year and as we move forward, we wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to those families and their near and dear. We appreciate and remember all their support and services to our organization and the communities they served.
As change happens, progress will follow through in our organization without us even noticing it. Long live our comradery and our fellowships so that when we see each other year after year we can rejuvenate the friendship and be able to commit more effectively to the communities we serve and those we represent.
God Bless AKMG!