AKMG Florida Chapter Spring Meeting, May 2022

With the pandemic in its final phases, the AKMG Florida Chapter organized an in-person networking event on May 15th, 2022 at Tabla Indian Restaurant, Orlando. The new office bearers of the chapter Dr. Sreekanth Viswanathan and Dr. Elakkat Gireesh coordinated and led the event. The presence of five former AKMG presidents from Florida including Dr. George Thomas, Dr. MP Ravindranathan, Dr. Aravind Pillai, Dr. Sunil Kumar, and Dr. Usha Mohandas made the event especially memorable. Our current AKMG President Dr. Nigil Haroon and First Lady Dr. Nisha Nigil (Canada) also graced the occasion.

Dr. Kanekal S. Gautham, MD, DM, MS, FAAP, Chair of Pediatrics at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Orlando, FL gave the keynote talk on 'Burnout and Resilience in Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals”. The talk was relevant, educational, and informative and filled with takeaway points. Some include “Every leader (or physician) is a CEO (Chief Emotional Officer)”, Tips on reducing ‘pajama time’ (time spent on EMR outside work hours), prioritizing self-care, and maintaining optimal work-life balance. There is a lack of data on burnout among immigrant physicians and he stressed the important role of organizations such as AKMG in exploring this area and its role to help the members by creating a sense of belonging and social bonding.