Saturday Morning CME and lunch at Crystal City Aug.27

Saturday Morning Aug.27 CME and lunch at Portofino Restaurant

Submitted by Meena Khandelwal '80

Lady Hardinge Medical College Alumni Association in North America celebrated a revival of the association with a bang, including not only fun and festivities, but also academic rigor with 4 hours of CME activity. With a diverse group of specialties represented in this association, the CME topics were of interest across all specialties like ‘Medical Ethics during the COVID-19 Pandemic’, ‘Pandemic Preparedness now and in the future’, ‘Clinical Hypnosis in Medicine’, and ‘Alternative Career Paths for Physicians’. The attendance was remarkable, and participation and questions invigorating.

LHMCAANA CME Director, Niharika Khanna '76, MBBS, Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, introduced the key-note speaker Wilbur Chen, MD who is Chief of the Adult Clinical Studies section within the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health and Director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore Travel Medicine Practice. Dr Wilbur discussed advances in vaccine development, the misinformation from lack of understanding of the process, and the ethics of it in a pandemic environment. This was followed by Dr Khanna presenting her work with vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic; the multitude of cultural, medical, and social reasons for poor vaccination rates; and how her team successfully addressed these. Meena Khandelwal '80 , MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Maternal-fetal-Medicine at Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, discussed the similarities to the 1918 flu pandemic, increasing frequency of pandemics, effects on care in pregnancy and perhaps better communication with patients as we did within the healthcare systems. Archana Maini '81, MD, Medical Director of Medical Specialists of Fort Lauderdale and Broward Oncology and Sickle Cell Center, discussed the dilemma and difficulties faced in management of vulnerable cancer patients, while also discovering the effects of monoclonal antibodies role in COVID-19. Neela Rangaswamy '76, MD, Chief of Anesthesia at Central Arkansas VA Health care system, communicated the difficulties and adjustments made in care of patients requiring surgical and critical care while protecting staff.

Arun Asha Kalra, MD, retired Chief of Pediatric Neurology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center is now pursuing her passion of Clinical Hypnosis at the Virginia Commonwealth University. She discussed the history of clinical hypnosis, busting myths, and with great examples exemplified the power of the mind in curing many chronic ailments like pain.

The session on alternative careers for Physicians was led by a panel of 4 passionate physicians discussing their paths to success in non-clinical careers, the difficulties they encountered, and advice for other women physicians seeking alternative careers in healthcare. The four types of non-clinical careers represented were: Healthcare Solutions, Medical Innovations, Public Health careers, Clinical Documentation for Quality improvement. Dr Bhavna Dhillon, anesthesiologist by training but Enterprise Regional Director for Value Based Contracting and Health Plan Relations at Envision Healthcare; Poonam L. Alaigh, MD, hematologist-oncologist by training but Research Professor and Director of Innovation at University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and President and CEO, Alaigh Care Associates; Dr. Koki Agarwal with a PhD in Public Health is the Vice President of DC Operations for Jhpiego and an internationally recognized expert in safe motherhood, reproductive health, and family planning policies and programs; and Dr. Megha Gupta is Internist by training and now works as Clinical Documentation Specialist at University of Miami Hospitals and Health System. The journey to success shared by each speaker was remarkable for the multitude of pathways to success, and showcased the challenges faced and overcome by each speaker.

Lunch at Portofino Restaurant

Submitted by Kanta Saha '96

The first official lunch meet of our LHMCAANA annual gala in Washington, DC was organized at the Italian restaurant Portofino on Saturday, August 27th. It was a fun filled gathering where the entire restaurant was booked for this event. Dr. Vimla Bhooshan '66 and Megha Gupta '98  were the super efficient  and omnipresent organizers to make sure that none of us missed it or ended up being at a different restaurant!! Needless to say, the food was delicious, drinks were delectable and the joy of sharing meals with your long lost friends, seniors and juniors was unimaginable. We are hoping that this is just the beginning of many more gatherings in the future. LHMCAANA rocks!!