Attend the 2026 SDSMA Annual Leadership Conference in Sioux Falls!

Keith Hansen, MD
May 1, 2026

I encourage you to attend the 2026 SDSMA Annual Leadership Conference, Advancing Patient Care Through Lifestyle Medicine, which will be held on May 29, 2026 at The Catlin Hotel (previously the Hilton Garden Inn) downtown Sioux Falls. This meeting promises to be an interesting and educational exploration of lifestyle medicine and its incorporation into the practice of medicine. It also allows the opportunity to network with colleagues, receive an update on the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, and learn of the multitude of advocacy efforts by the SDSMA and AMA on local, regional and national stages. 

The night prior to the annual meeting, District 7 Medical Society is hosting a welcome reception at the new SDSMA office at 1610 S. Minnesota Ave. Aside from seeing our new office building, please stop by to meet, if you haven’t already, our new CEO Tammy Hatting, and Kayla Keeler, our new Membership and Executive Services Manager. This is also an excellent occasion to talk with our established staff members and lobbyists and allows for informal conversation with the SDSMA Board of Directors and AMA representatives.

The conference will kick off with an incredible opportunity to listen to an AMA update, delivered by Willie Underwood, MD, the AMA president-elect and practicing urologist from Buffalo, New York. Dr. Underwood is an expert on health care policies and health care disparities who has published over 120 peer-reviewed publications, chapters and abstracts. He has also co-founded KAPS Biotechnology LLC which is performing validation studies on a new prostate cancer biomarker.    

Following Dr. Underwood’s presentation we’ll hear presentations on lifestyle medicine and its impact on health. Michelle L. Thompson, DO, will present From Sick Care to Self-Care Transforming Self and Systems Through Lifestyle Medicine. Dr. Thompson practices integrative family medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. This will be followed by Allen Weiss, MD, on prevention as a cure for healthcare and our nation’s economy. These two presentations will be followed by an exciting panel discussion on the progress and growth of lifestyle medicine in South Dakota. The distinguished panel, moderated by Robert Allison, MD, includes Marty Allison, MD; Michelle L. Thopson, DO; Amy Prunuske, PhD; Allen Weiss, MD, Kathryn Wermers, DNP; and Secretary of Health Melissa Magstadt. 

Lunch is sponsored by the Black Hills District Medical Society and will includes a presentation by South Dakota Secretary of Health Melissa Magstadt on the Rural Health Transformation Project. With the recent federal award of $189.4 million to South Dakota to enhance rural health, it promises to be an interesting talk and conversation.

Following lunch, Tim Ridgway, MD, will give an update on the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. There are a number of exciting updates from the school of medicine including the recent announcement of the move of Pillar 1 medical education (Basic Biomedical Education) to Sioux Falls. After Dr. Ridgway’s update, we will have the opportunity to attend a medical student and resident poster session. It promises to be an interesting session with many interesting cases and research activities. The students and residents have worked hard to develop these poster presentations and are looking forward to presenting to you.    

The program will then move into the SDSMA Policy Council meeting and membership open forum where updates are given and policy developed for use in SDSMA’s advocacy efforts.  The open forum is always an interesting discussion of important concerns that impact medical practice in South Dakota and how the SDSMA can assist.

The Awards Banquet, Scholarship Recognition and Presidential Inauguration in the evening will be the finale of the meeting. I urge you to attend as this is an opportunity to recognize physicians as well as others who support our patients and the practice of medicine in South Dakota. We also have the opportunity to recognize the medical students who are SDSMA Foundation scholarship recipients. This year the SDSMA Foundation has awarded more than $400,000 in medical student scholarships, which in this time of increasing educational costs is critical for our students.

To conclude my term as president, I am honored to inaugurate our next president, Benjamin Meyerink, MD. Dr. Meyerink, a family medicine physician at Avera Medical Group in Sioux Falls, is a respected and capable leader who is well-prepared to guide our association through the coming year. Congratulations to Dr. Meyerink on this new leadership role.

I hope to see you at the conference in Sioux Falls on May 29!