NEMG colleagues active through their professional societies
Several NEMG clinical colleagues have been active in their professional societies in recent years. In summarizing this below, we encourage anyone to please reach out to them if you are interested in becoming involved in their respective professional societies. Please let us know if we missed any other individuals doing such work.
Pia Benedek-Simone, a medical assistant with NEMG Internal Medicine in Woodbridge, has been a member of the CT Society of Medical Assistants since 1996. She indicates that there are about 200 certified medical assistants in CT who are members. She just completed a three-year term on the Board of Directors and in that role was responsible for obtaining speakers for the virtual fall conference and in-person spring conference. The 2023 spring conference included presentations by NEMG Associate Director of Regional Practice Operations Lewis Goodrum on “Transitioning from Medical Assistant to Supervisory Roles” and by medical directors Karen Brown, MD, and Robert McLean, MD, on “Bringing Value to the Clinical Care Team.”
Robert McLean, MD; Karen Brown, MD
Vanessa Pomarico-Denino, APRN, of NEMG Internal Medicine in Hamden, has been very active with the CT APRN Society for many years. She served as Society president from 2012-2014, then as co-chair of Health Policy from 2014-2016. She remains actively involved with the Society in health policy whenever legislative issues arise. She is also currently involved with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as the national co-chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Special Interest Group, a member of the Fellows of AANP Selection committee, a member of the Fellows Mentorship Committee.
Susan D'Agostino, APRN, with NEMG Internal Medicine in Hamden, has been active with the CT APRN Society Education Committee for a number of years and has recently become Society treasurer. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut League for Nursing.
Adam Olsen, PA, with NEMG at Bridgeport Hospital, has been an active member of the Connecticut Academy of PAs (ConnAPA) since 2004. For the past four years, he has been a director-at-large and is currently co-chair of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee. He represents Connecticut on the national level as part of the American Academy of PAs House of Delegates, enacting policies and position statements on behalf of the PA profession.
Ed Tuohy, MD, a cardiologist with NEMG Cardiac Specialists, has been active for many years with the American Medical Association (AMA) and cardiology societies. He currently serves on the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) Ethics & Compliance Committee and as an alternate advisor for the ACC to the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), which provides recommendations to CMS around valuation of physician services. He has been active for years with the CT Chapter of the ACC and served as the chapter president from 2013-2016. With the AMA, he became active as a medical student and then with Resident/Fellow Section (RFS), serving as vice-chair of the RFS Section in 1999-2000. He is a delegate to the AMA House of Delegates on behalf of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions.
Robert McLean, MD, a rheumatology & internal medicine specialist in New Haven with NEMG, has been active with the American College of Physicians for many years, initially with the Connecticut Chapter, serving as chair of the Chapter’s Health & Public Policy Committee from 1995-2008. After serving as Chapter governor from 2009-2013, he served on the Board of Regents, then as ACP President from 2019-2020. He served on many national ACP committees over the years and is currently on the Performance Measures Committee and Awards Committee. He has been an active member of the CT State Medical Society, focusing on advocacy since the 1990s, and is currently on the Legislative Committee and Leadership Council. Since 2017, he has been a member of the ACP’s delegation to the American Medical Association House of Delegates.
Craig McPherson, MD, cardiologist and electrophysiology specialist at Bridgeport Hospital, has been an active member of the Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Cardiology since 2013, serving as the co-chair of the Education Committee from 2015-2020, then as CT ACC Chapter governor from 2020-2023. He completed this term this past spring as he is planning to retire this month after a renowned career at Bridgeport Hospital. Congratulations, and we wish him well!
