San Antonio FMIG receives national award
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Family Medicine Interest Group was chosen as one of 10 recipients nationwide of the 2010 AAFP Program of Excellence Award. This award recognizes FMIGs for their efforts to stimulate interest in family medicine and family medicine programming. The award has been a cornerstone of the FMIG network, facilitating the sharing of best practices of FMIGs from across the country and recognizing the hard work of these student groups. The UTHSCSA FMIG currently boasts nearly 200 active members, and has been recognized as a Program of Excellence a total of four times.
The UTHSCSA FMIG takes extensive steps to actively recruit medical students to family medicine and retain membership by electing student liaisons from each medical school class to promote upcoming events and meetings; and using FMIG meetings to discuss relevant medical topics, sponsor hands-on workshops, and bring family physicians from the community to speak. One of their most successful recruiting events was the FMIG-sponsored residency fair, which brought 19 family medicine residency programs to interact with students.
In the community, the UTHSCSA FMIG staffs student-run free clinics weekly at two locations: Alpha Home, a transitional living home for women recovering from drug addiction, and the San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries, a transitional living home for previously homeless families. The group is involved in Tar Wars, AAFP’s anti-tobacco initiative that brings medical professionals into fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms, and Apple Wars, an anti-obesity initiative that teaches fifth-grade students the importance of proper nutrition, portion sizes, and exercise.
AAFP will honor the UTHSCSA FMIG in multiple ways. AAFP has posted a program profile in the “New & Notable” section of the Virtual FMIG website, http://fmignet.aafp.org. At National Conference in Kansas City, Mo., July 29-31, the UTHSCSA FMIG will be featured in the official conference program, members will be given a special ribbon to wear on their conference badges, and FMIG leaders will present an educational session to share their success story with other student groups.
Glen Johnson, M.D.
Former TAFP president, physician emeritus wins TMA Young at Heart award
Add another accolade to an already decorated star of family medicine. TAFP member Glen Royce Johnson, M.D., of Houston, received the Texas Medical Association’s Young At Heart Award during the TMA House of Delegates meeting at TexMed 2010 in Fort Worth. TMA’s Young Physician Section, who voted for Johnson to win the award, cited his continuous support and promotion of organized medicine and his drive to engage young physicians.
Gregory R. Johnson, M.D., F.H.M., F.A.A.F.P., son of Glen Johnson, nominated his father and presented him the award. Gregory Johnson recently completed his term as chair of TMA’s Young Physician Section. In the nomination, he spoke of his father’s vast “coaching tree,” the extensive network of physicians he helped in the formative years of their careers.
“He has mentored younger physicians who are now program directors of family medicine residencies, clinic medical directors, and executives in health care plans,” he wrote. “He has spoken at numerous engagements in support of young physicians and their causes, including contacting the Texas Medical Board to expedite new physician applications for licensure. In terms of organized medicine, he has consistently and vocally supported not just membership but involvement in TMA and TAFP.”
Glen Johnson was named TAFP’s 2009 Physician Emeritus for his longtime service and commitment to the specialty. A former TAFP president and AAFP vice president, Johnson has over 28 years of health care experience in clinical practice, academic medicine and medical education, managed health care, and medical group management.
TAFP member appointed to insurance CO-OP panel
TAFP member David D. Buck, M.D., M.P.H., of Houston has been appointed to a new national advisory board to oversee the disbursement of grants and loans to establish non-profit, member-run health insurers for the individual and small-group markets. Established by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the U.S. Government Accountability Office appointed 15 members to the advisory board of the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program. Buck joins two other AAFP-member family physicians on the board.
Buck is an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and the founder and president of Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston, Texas. He is also a member of the governing board of the Harris County Healthcare Alliance, which has partnered with other local organizations to launch the TexHealth Harris County 3-Share Plan, a program designed to make health benefits affordable for uninsured employees of small businesses.
The creation of a co-op system to bolster the individual and small-group insurance market was a compromise to the controversial public option insurance coverage originally proposed in the health care reform legislation. The advisory board will make recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services, awarding all of the grants and loans by July 2013. The board may continue its work until December 2015.
Nancy W. Dickey, M.D.
Dickey named to Texas Women’s Hall of Fame
TAFP member Nancy W. Dickey, M.D., has been chosen for induction into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame by the Governor’s Commission for Women. Dickey is president of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and vice chancellor for health affairs for the Texas A&M System. Previously, she served as dean of the TAMHSC College of Medicine, where she still serves as professor of family and community medicine.
Dickey is the founding program director of the Family Medicine Residency of the Brazos Valley. During her tenure as president of TAMHSC, she has chaired the state’s formula funding advisory committee, and advocated increased funding for health-related educational programs. As a result of her leadership, she helped establish the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy in Kingsville, the first professional school in South Texas. She also created the Rural and Community Health Institute to address issues of patient safety and quality of care in rural Texas hospitals, and, in response to Texas’ nursing shortage, she oversaw the creation of a College of Nursing in Bryan/College Station. She chairs the Texas A&M System Council on Nursing, a statewide consortium of nursing programs designed to address the shortage.
Dickey holds the distinction of being the only female president of the American Medical Association. She is also active in TAFP, the Texas Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the National Patient Safety Foundation.
She was appointed to chair the Texas Health Policy Council by Texas Gov. Rick Perry; chosen for membership in the Society for Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine; and selected to be a member of the Institute of Medicine, a component of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Governor’s Commission for Women established the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in 1984 to honor the state’s most accomplished women. A permanent exhibit honoring the inductees is housed inside Hubbard Hall on the campus of Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. Dickey’s biography and photograph will become part of this exhibit after her induction in September 2010.
TAFP members elected to TMA leadership posts
Curran, Bias join board of trustees, Ragain becomes alternate delegate to AMA
Family medicine fared well during the Texas Medical Association’s TexMed conference in April as several TAFP members were elected to TMA leadership positions. TAFP Past President Douglas Curran, M.D., of Athens, was elected to the TMA Board of Trustees, and Michael Ragain, M.D., of Lubbock, was appointed alternate delegate to the American Medical Association.
Curran was elected to a three-year term on TMA’s Board of Trustees. Travis Bias, D.O., a second-year resident from Houston, was elected this past winter to the one-year resident position on the board. They join other TAFP members: Trustee Lewis Foxhall, M.D., of Houston, and Secretary/Treasurer Art Klawitter, M.D., of Needville.
The Board of Trustees manages business and financial affairs of the association, implements policies of the House of Delegates, establishes association policy between meetings of the House of Delegates, and monitors program activities of association councils and committees. It is comprised of nine at-large members, six TMA officers, one resident, and one medical student.
Curran practices at East Texas Medical Center and Lakeland Medical Associates, Group Practice, and has been active in TMA, TAFP, and AAFP serving on numerous committees and in various officer roles. He is a member of the TMA Council on Legislation and the Executive Committee for TEXPAC, the lobbying arm of TMA. He has served as a consultant to the TMA Committee on Professional Liability and was a member of the TMA Council on Member Services. Curran is a member of the Henderson County Medical Society and serves in the TMA House of Delegates for Henderson County. At TAFP, Curran has served as chair of the Commission on Membership and Member Services, chair of the Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs, and as an active member of TAFPPAC. He also served on the AAFP Commission for Governmental Advocacy.
Bias is a resident at the Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program in Sugar Land, Texas. In his third year, he will be one of three chief residents. He currently serves as Texas resident delegate to the AMA House of Delegates and is a member of the AMA Legislative Advocacy Committee. As a medical student, Bias served as a regional delegate to AMA; member of the Regional Infrastructure Task Force; member of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Medical Ethics; and in leadership capacities with AMPAC, the political arm of AMA. Within TMA, Bias recently completed terms on their Executive Committee and Foundation board. He was awarded TAFP’s James C. Martin, M.D. Resident Scholarship and will travel to Austin to research health care policy affecting family medicine and develop recommendations to carry into the next legislative session.
Ragain currently serves as the Braddock Chair of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Department of Family and Community Medicine in Lubbock. After completing his residency training at TTUHSC, he became associate residency director for the program, then residency director. He served various other posts before being appointed Braddock Chair in 2002. Ragain is a current member of the TAFP Commission on Academic Affairs, and also served on the Task Force on Credentialing and the TAFP Board of Directors. Within TMA, Ragain has been a delegate and alternate delegate for his county society, a member of the Continuing Medical Education Committee, and a member and chair of the Council on Medical Education.
TAFP member elected to ABFM board
TAFP member Carlos Roberto Jaén, M.D., of San Antonio, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the American Board of Family Medicine. Jaén is the chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He is also an adjunct professor at the UTHSC School of Public Health at Houston and is co-director of the Center for Research in Family Medicine and Primary Care.
ABFM is the second-largest medical specialty board in the United States and facilitates certification and recertification to thousands of family physicians around the country throughout their years of practice. Jaén will serve on the ABFM Information and Technology Committee and the Research and Development Committee, and will serve a five-year term on the 12-member ABFM board.