The Hellenic Medical Society of America will launch a Chicago chapter on December 12 to connect physicians, healthcare professionals and medical students across the area. The chapter will be led by Dr. Georgios Karanastasis and will focus on mentorship, medical education, scholarships and community service.
The launch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Central Time at the National Hellenic Museum, 333 South Halsted Street, in Chicago’s Greektown. The museum is partnering with the society on the event, with support from the Greek consulate in Chicago. Greek Consul General Michael Stamatis is scheduled to speak, and a reception will follow the program.
A Chicago Network for Students and Medical Professionals
The society plans to use the Chicago chapter to connect colleagues across medical specialties and help students and early-career professionals find mentors. At the launch, guests will be able to meet the chapter’s leadership and learn how the group plans to organize its educational and community work.
Karanastasis is expected to join national society president Dr. Antonios P. Gasparis, past president Dr. George Liakeas and executive director Stavroula Toska at the event. Members of the society’s executive board are also scheduled to attend. The program will bring local healthcare professionals and students together with representatives of the national organization.
The society already offers merit-based and need-based scholarships for medical students, physicians in training and researchers of Hellenic heritage. It also offers named awards that commemorate physicians and benefactors. The organization has identified scholarships as part of the Chicago chapter’s work, with details for the society’s 2027 application cycle still to come.
A New Chapter in the Society’s 90th Year
A group of physicians founded the society in 1936. Among them was Dr. George N. Papanicolaou, whose research led to the Pap test. The nonprofit has since developed programs that support medical training and bring health professionals together, including the Hippocratic Medical Symposium, which offers accredited continuing medical education.
The Chicago launch comes one week before the society’s 90th anniversary celebration and scholarship gala in New York. The December 19 gala at Cipriani Wall Street continues a scholarship tradition that the organization dates to 1969, when the annual event began supporting the medical education of Greek American students.
In Chicago, the launch will take place at a museum dedicated to Greek heritage and the Greek American experience. The evening will give students and healthcare professionals a chance to meet the people who will lead the local chapter and ask how they can take part as its programs develop.
