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Linda Siy, M.D. | President
lindasiy@yahoo.com
In addition to her position as staff physician with the JPS Health Center - Northeast in Bedford, Texas, Dr. Siy is also active within academia as a clinical associate professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in Fort Worth.
She was awarded a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a medical degree from the UMKC School of Medicine. Dr. Siy completed a family medicine residency at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
Dr. Siy has been active in TAFP, serving on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors since 1998. She has also served on or chaired several TAFP committees, including the Section on Special Constituencies, the Commission on Membership and Member Services, the Committee on Core Delegation and the TAFP Foundation Board. Dr. Siy finished a term as president of the local TAFP Tarrant County Chapter in February 2002.
On the national level, Dr. Siy represented the women’s constituency on the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Congress of Delegates in 2000; and has acted as a convener, co-convener and delegate to the AAFP National Conference of Special Constituencies between 1998 and 2003.
Her other activities include serving as vice-chair for the John Peter Smith Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. Dr. Siy is also a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the Texas Medical Association, the Tarrant County Medical Society and the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved.
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Robert Youens, M.D. | President-elect
robertyouens@hotmail.com
Dr. Youens is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He received his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine and completed a residency in family medicine at the Central Texas Medical Foundation at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. In 2003, he earned a master’s in medical management from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. Board certified in family medicine, Dr. Youens has been practicing at the Youens and Duchicela Clinic in Weimar since 1979. He is also a clinical assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Outside his practice of medicine, Dr. Youens is very active in his community. He is a past president of numerous organizations, including the Weimar Independent School District Board of Trustees, the Colorado Fayette Medical Society, the Weimar Rotary Club and the Weimar Booster Club. He has been named Health Care Provider of the Year by the Weimar Rotary Club and Teacher of the Year by the UTMB Family Medicine Residency Program.
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Melissa Gerdes, M.D. | Vice President
gerdesm@trimofran.org
Dr. Gerdes graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She received her medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency at the University of Texas Health Center at Tyler. Dr. Gerdes is currently the medical director of the Trinity Clinic in Whitehouse, Texas, and a staff physician at Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler.
She has been a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians since 1992 and a member of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians since 1996. Within TAFP, she serves as Chair of the Commission on Membership. Dr. Gerdes served on the Executive Committee from 2004-2005 and 1998-1999 and as Chair of the Section on Resident Affairs from 1998-1999 as well as the Section on Special Constituencies.
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Kaparaboyna Ashok Kumar, M.D. | Treasurer
kaparaboyna@sbcglobal.net
Dr. Kumar is an international medical graduate of Osmania Medical College. He completed a surgical residency at St. James’ University Hospital, England, and a family practice residency at the University of Texas Health Center at Tyler. Dr. Kumar completed a fellowship at the Royal College of Surgeons, and his special interests include surgical procedures, endoscopy and cancer screening. He is currently on faculty at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio.
Dr. Kumar has been actively involved in TAFP, serving as the special constituency representative on the TAFP Executive Committee. He became the first member to sit on the TAFP Board of Directors as a representative of the special constituencies, a group representing the concerns of minority women, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender physicians as well as those of new physicians and international medical graduates.
I.L. Balkcom, IV, M.D. | Parliamentarian
ilbrealtp@hughes.net
Dr. Balkcom is a physician with the Medical-Surgical Clinic in Sulphur Springs. He was awarded an A.S. degree in Biology by Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia, and was awarded a medical degree by La Autonoma De Guadalajara, Mexico, and Ross University, Portsmouth, West Indies.
Dr. Balkcom is active within the Academy, currently serving as chair of the Section on Rural Physicians and as director of the TAFP Red River Chapter. He recently completed a term as chair of the Section on Leadership Development. He is also a member of the TAFP Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs, the TAFP Political Action Committee Board of Directors and the TAFP Executive Committee.
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Douglas Curran, M.D. | Immediate Past President
dcurran@cox-internet.com
Dr. Curran currently practices in Athens, Texas, as a staff physician with East Texas Medical Center and Lakeland Medical Associates, Group Practice. He served as chief of staff at the East Texas Medical Center in 1986 and 1998. Dr. Curran was awarded his medical degree from the University of Arkansas in Little Rock and completed a family medicine residency at John Peter Smith Hospital, Southwestern Medical School in Fort Worth where he served as chief resident from 1978-1979.
Dr. Curran has been active in TAFP, serving on numerous committees. He has served as TAFP Chair for the Commission on Membership and Member Services and Chair of the Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs.