National Conference of Special Constituencies

Report from TAFP’s representative to the New Physician delegation

By Molly Alakayi, M.D.

My experience at the NCSC was rewarding, energizing and fulfilling to my commitment as a new family physician. I learned a lot and found out that the issues I am struggling with in my daily practice as a family physician are not unique.

Prior to attending the conference, I was kept well informed by the Texas Academy staff and physicians who had attended the conference the previous years. This planning process was very exciting and informative prior to attending the conference as I participated on AAFP’s discussion list. I was advised on what to expect at the conference in terms of the different activities and the preparations I needed to do on my part.

The day of my arrival at the conference site after I checked in at the hotel, I picked up my registration package which provided with me ample time to go through the agenda items. Every day started with yoga at 5:30 a.m., which was very relaxing and energizing.

My networking started at the yoga venue where I met with physicians from other states who were willing to share information. Most of the physicians who had attended the conference in the previous years were willing to share their experience with me and made me feel very comfortable.

Orientation for the first-time attendees was very beneficial in providing the information and tools to be used throughout the conference. The new physician informal session helped me to prepare for the resolution writing in the afternoon. The new physicians formulated a list of resolutions, which were submitted to the reference committee on the first day of the conference. The second day, the reference committee report was presented to the new physician constituency with the recommendations and the floor was opened to debate the issues. Each individual resolution was either approved or defeated by way of voting.

Meeting the AAFP president at the plenary session was a great experience and it was exciting to listen to his message that encouraged us to e-mail our senators on the issue of the medical liability bill. The new physicians board member’s report was well received, providing the information on what has been happening at the board-level this year. Reports from each constituency co-conveners were enlightening and informative. The voting process for the new physician to the AAFP Board, AMA-YPS Delegate and the alternate delegates was a great experience. Networking with the Annual Leadership Forum participants and the CME activities made the conference very valuable.

In conclusion, the conference was energizing, informative and educational. I would encourage all new physicians to try and attend the future NCSC.

TAFP member elected to represent special constituencies on AAFP Congress of Delegates

Diana Ballesteros, M.D., of San Antonio, was elected to serve as a special constituency alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates at the AAFP National Conference of Special Constituencies, May 4-6 in Kansas City, Mo. After serving a one-year term as an alternate delegate, Ballesteros will automatically move into the delegate position to represent special constituencies.

Ballesteros is the current residency assistant director of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa in San Antonio. She has been in private practice since graduation from her residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Family Medicine Residency Program. She is a member of AAFP and TAFP as well as the Texas Medical Association and Bexar County Medical Association. She is also the current president of the Mexican-American Physicians Association.

Ballesteros was one of six special constituency alternate delegates to the AAFP Congress elected. Together, they will represent women physicians; minority physicians; gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender physicians; and international medical graduates.

TAFP member elected president of innovative medicine association

Christopher Ewin, M.D., a TAFP member practicing in Fort Worth, was elected president of the Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design, based in Seattle, Wash. in June. Ewin owns 121MD, a retainer-model practice, and has written on the subject for TEXAS FAMILY PHYSICIAN. He is a board-certified family physician and a fellow of AAFP. He has served on the board of the Tarrant County Medical Society and as president of the Tarrant County Academy of Medicine.

The Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design is an organization of health care providers promoting a direct financial relationship with their patients to restore the integrity of the patient-physician relationship, according to a SIMPD press release. Their members include concierge, retainer, retail and cash pay physicians, who pursue patient-focused medical practice and wish to improve the patient-physician relationship.

TAFP to install new officers

The 2006-07 TAFP officers will be installed at the 57th Annual Session and Scientific Assembly in Frisco, Texas at the President’s Gala on Saturday, July 22. Please help us welcome the Academy’s new leadership.

Douglas Curran, M.D., the 2006-07 President, is a staff physician with East Texas Medical Center and Lakeland Medical Associates, Group Practice in Athens, Texas.

President-elect, Linda Siy, M.D., is a staff physician with North Texas Affiliated Medical Group in Fort Worth and a member of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital.

Kaparaboyna Ashok Kumar, M.D., TAFP’s Vice President, is on faculty at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio.

Treasurer, Robert Youens, M.D., has been practicing at the Youens and Duchicela Clinic in Weimar since 1979 and is a clinical assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

Melissa Gerdes, M.D., TAFP’s Parliamentarian, is a physician at Trinity Whitehouse Clinic in Whitehouse, Texas.

TAFP bids farewell to past president

A. Earl Mgebroff, M.D., who served as TAFP past president from 1988-89, died May 27, 2006 at his home in Yoakum. Throughout his 52 years of service to the community as a family physician, Mgebroff gained a reputation for being patient-centered and a mentor to students and residents. He received many honors for his work, including TAFP Physician of the Year and the TAFP Leadership award, and frequently expressed his love of his job.

“I always wanted to go into medicine,” Mgebroff said in a previous interview with TEXAS FAMILY PHYSICIAN. “Practicing medicine is a wonderful, rewarding profession. People place their lives in your hands; you try to do the best you can when people have that confidence. It has its own reward.”

Besides serving as TAFP president, he also served as TAFP’s delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates, as a member of the TAFPPAC board, as a member of the TAFP Foundation Board of Trustees and as chair of the Primary Care Residency Advisory Committee of the state of Texas.

Mgebroff graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and received his medical degree from Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Bravenec Mgebroff, children, Jo Beth Larson and Michael Lamar Mgebroff, and four grandchildren, Carrie Beth Larson, Sara Rae Larson, Ian Barker Mgebroff and Amy Nicole Larson.

Zeitler joins Texas Medical Board

Gov. Rick Perry recently appointed TAFP member Irvin E. Zeitler, Jr., D.O., of San Angelo to the Texas Medical Board for a term extending through April 2011, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The Texas Medical Board, formerly known as the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, regulates certain licensed health care professionals in Texas and educates consumers regarding their rights in seeking quality care.

Zeitler previously served as a board member of the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association and is the current vice president of medical affairs at the Shannon Medical Center. He attended the University of Texas at Austin as an undergraduate and received his medical degree from the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dallas group offers practice management classes

Jefferson Physician Group, an independent practice association in Dallas, Texas, participated in a check-signing ceremony on June 30 that marked the official passing of grant funds from the Texas Workforce Commission to the group. The grant, which was awarded in December 2005 and took effect in March 2006, supports the implementation of classes geared toward increasing practice management skills in member practices.

Partnered with Brookhaven College, staffs of primary care practices can receive certification in a wide spectrum of skill sets covering applications in business, administration, clinical topics, skills development and others. Students attend classes at Brookhaven that can last anywhere between an hour for a HIPAA information course to 120 hours for NCT training. Jefferson predicts that 540 medical staff members will participate for around 32,000 total hours of education.

“We feel that getting the grant and offering the classes to members adds value to Jefferson and our members’ practices,” says Tim Paquette, chief operating officer of Jefferson Physician Group. Paquette hopes that the skills acquired in the classes will effectively prepare member physicians to cope with the daily demands of operating a primary care practice.

National MinuteClinic to get family medicine perspective

Andrew Eisenberg, M.D., a family physician who until recently practiced in Madisonville, Texas, has been named to serve on the quality advisory committee of a national retail health clinic. MinuteClinic, which operates 82 clinics in 10 states, initiated its National Clinical Quality Advisory Council earlier this year.

A member of the AAFP Commission on Practice Enhancement, Eisenberg recently moved to Sarasota, Fla. As AAFP’s representative to the council, he will focus on quality improvement and measurement. Eisenberg is expected to help ensure patient safety by providing family medicine’s perspective on quality of care measures.

Also named to the advisory council was Michael Fleming, M.D., of Shreveport, La., AAFP past president and assistant clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, and in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Tulane University Medical School, New Orleans.

AAFP representation on the council is an outgrowth of the Academy’s involvement in ensuring that retail health clinics provide appropriate care to patients and complement the services patients receive in their medical homes. More information on the Academy’s work on retail health clinic issues is available in the May 30, 2006 edition of AAFP News Now.

Portions of this article were taken from AAFP News Now, May 30, 2006. © American Academy of Family Physicians

Sanchez to resign as DSHS Commissioner

TAFP member Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., announced his plan to step down from his position as commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services in October to spend more time with his family. Sanchez has served DSHS since 2001 and has garnered praise for reforming the health care system, fighting obesity and improving Texas’ childhood immunization rate.

“First and foremost, I want to make clear that this has been a difficult decision to make,” Sanchez said in a released statement. “However, it’s made with my responsibilities to my family as my first priority. I have to give more of my time and of myself to my wife and children.”

Sanchez, who is married to Katherine Sanchez, has a son, 14, and three daughters, 12, 6 and 3.

He made the announcement well in advance of his resignation to ease the transition to the next director and prepare for next year’s legislative session. The next director is charged with continuing Sanchez’s work on fighting obesity, further improving immunization rates and addressing border health issues.