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Greetings
from
Dr.
Doug
Curran
COLLEAGUES—My
term
as
TAFP
President
is
underway
and
I
am
excited
about
the
great
and
challenging
year
ahead.
Serving
the
Academy
from
this
office
has
been
something
I’ve
looked
forward
to
and
spent
the
past
year
preparing
for.
As
we
move
forward
as
an
Academy
to
improve
health
care
in
Texas,
I
will
draw
from
great
leaders
and
thinkers.
One
of
these
great
thinkers
is
Capt.
D.
Michael
Abrashoff.
He
described
his
techniques
to
empower
the
crew
of
the
worst
ship
in
the
U.S.
Navy
in
his
book,
“It’s
Your
Ship.”
He
encouraged
the
crew
to
collaborate
with
him
and
take
ownership
of
the
vessel,
which
turned
the
worst
ship
in
the
Navy
to
the
best.
I
am
so
fortunate
because
the
TAFP
ship
is
the
best
in
the
fleet,
but
I
need
your
help
to
make
it
even
better.
This
year
I
will
call
upon
you,
my
fellow
family
physicians,
to
take
ownership
of
your
role
in
the
Academy
as
we
work
to
make
a
difference
in
our
broken
U.S.
health
care
system.
Have
you
ever
wondered
why
the
chiropractors
have
such
a
loud
voice?
It’s
simple;
they
speak
with
their
checkbooks
and
support
their
advocacy
efforts.
We
have
greater
numbers
and
a
great
message,
but
we
cannot
sit
on
the
sidelines
complaining
about
how
tough
and
unfair
we
have
it.
We
must
work
with
the
Academy
to
bring
about
change.
We
must
become
friends
with
our
legislators
and
support
our
candidates
AND
we
must
support
our
PACs
by
becoming
monthly
donors
to
the
TAFP
Political
Action
Committee
and
the
AAFP
PAC.
In
this
first
communication
with
you,
let
me
tell
you
about
a
few
of
the
people
and
things
that
have
made
me
who
I
am—my
wife
of
36
years,
Sandra;
the
community
of
Athens,
Texas
and
my
practice;
my
two
grown
children,
Cortney
and
Chris;
my
parents
and
my
brothers
and
sister.
I
have
been
in
family
medicine
for
more
than
25
years
and
am
currently
staff
physician
with
the
East
Texas
Medical
Center
and
Lakeland
Medical
Associates,
Group
Practice.
I
graduated
with
a
Bachelor
of
Science
and
Masters
of
Science
degree
from
the
University
of
Arkansas
in
Fayetteville
and
was
awarded
my
medical
degree
from
the
College
of
Medicine
at
the
University
of
Arkansas
for
Medical
Sciences
in
Little
Rock.
I
then
completed
my
family
practice
residency
at
John
Peter
Smith
Hospital,
Southwestern
Medical
School
in
Fort
Worth.
I
have
been
a
member
of
TAFP
since
1979
and
have
served
on
many
TAFP
and
AAFP
committee
and
commissions
including
TAFP’s
Commission
on
Membership
and
Member
Services
and
Commission
on
Legislative
and
Public
Affairs,
and
AAFP’s
Commission
on
Governmental
Advocacy.
I
have
greatly
enjoyed
my
practice
as
a
family
physician.
I
truly
believe
that
primary
care
providers
are
the
hope
for
the
U.S.
health
care
system
and
we
can
inspire
positive
change
in
this
system.
I
look
forward
to
working
with
each
of
you
and
I
encourage
you
to
share
your
thoughts,
concerns
and
frustrations
with
me
by
e-mailing
president@tafp.org.
Sincerely,
Doug
Curran,
M.D.
President
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