Dear ACP Colleagues, Residents and Students,

April 18th marked the beginning of my term as your Southeastern Pennsylvania ACP Governor. I want to start this email by thanking the amazing Dr. Rachel Ramirez for her incredible five and a half years of service as our Governor-Elect Designee, Governor-Elect, and our Governor. I’m delighted that Rachel plans to stay on with us as the PA Medical Society representative to our PA-ACP Council and am glad to have an amazing “consigliere” at my side as I embark on this adventure.

ACP Internal Medicine 2026 recently ended and it was truly a terrific conference. I continue to describe it as an "educational smorgasbord” that never stops giving (if you’re interested in coming to next year’s conference in LA and want to hear more about the experience feel free to reach out). I attended a ton of amazing talks, caught up with old physician friends (and made some new ones!), and spent a lot of time absorbing what it means to be an Internal Medicine physician (NOT a provider!). Part of my responsibilities included joining Dr. Ramirez and our co-Governors Dr. Jen McComb (PA-ACP Western), Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak (PA-ACP Eastern), and Dr. Anthony Donato (PA-ACP Eastern Governor-Elect) in leading our Pennsylvania delegation of new Fellows of the American College of Physicians at ACP Convocation. As we stood shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other Fellows from all fifty states, three branches of the Armed Forces, and dozens of ACP chapters from around the world, I couldn't help but feel incredibly validated in my choice of speciality and felt amazingly proud to be an Internist. Convocation was made even more special for me by getting to watch two of my former residents become fellows (one for our own SEPA ACP chapter and the other in the Arizona ACP chapter) - a new experience for me as a former Internal Medicine Program Director.

Over the coming months I’d appreciate your spending some time thinking about how I can help you and your colleagues. This might mean my visiting your hospital, practice, residents, or students to talk about the ACP, current advocacy issues in Pennsylvania and the United States, connecting with you to listen to challenges affecting your practice, providing help in finding CME, or filling you in on how you can become more active in the Pennsylvania ACP. I’d also love to share more information with you about how to become a Fellow of the ACP.

In the meantime, I’d appreciate your considering dropping in on our ACP Advocacy page to learn more about issues the College is focused on and to participate in taking action on important topics such as vaccination, I’d also appreciate your putting our annual Pennsylvania ACP State Meeting on your calendars as we’d love to see you at the Hershey Hotel on Saturday November 7, 2026. We can’t make this chapter amazing without your help and I look forward to connecting with you to find ways you can become more active in our chapter.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week! I’m excited for the next four years!

Bill Surkis, MD, FACP
Governor, Southeastern Region
2026 - 2030