Dallas member creates endowment to support physician well-being programming

Dallas family physician and TAFP member Chrisette Dharma, MD, has donated $25,000 to the TAFP Foundation to establish the Dharma Wellness Initiative, an endowment that will provide ongoing support for continuing medical education focused on physician health and well-being.

The initiative will fund educational programming at TAFP's major conferences, including Annual Session and Primary Care Summit, C. Frank Webber Lectureship and Interim Session, and Texas Family Medicine Symposium. Lectures, workshops, and other educational resources may address mental and physical health, professional fulfillment, financial health, and other aspects of physician well-being.

For Dharma, the gift represents an opportunity to support the organization that has helped her navigate the challenges of practicing family medicine while investing in the health and happiness of her colleagues.

"The only people who I feel like have been constantly there with me through all the ups and downs of our career as a family medicine doctor is TAFP," Dharma says.

As an independent physician and owner of Southwest Family Medicine Associates, Dharma understands the pressures of practicing medicine from two perspectives. She manages a practice employing 13 other providers while continuing to see patients herself. She recognizes that the financial and administrative demands of operating a practice can contribute to the same frustrations she experiences as a practicing physician.

Despite those challenges, Dharma says she continues to find tremendous satisfaction in family medicine.

"I still wake up with so much joy," she says.

She wants other physicians to rediscover and preserve that sense of fulfillment, even as they navigate the demands of their careers.

For Dharma, physician well-being begins with recognizing that a physician's identity and worth extend beyond the practice of medicine. She believes physicians need to prioritize their own needs, cultivate interests outside work, and recognize that caring for themselves is essential to sustaining a rewarding career.

"Medicine is a job. It is not your person," she says.

Investing in the physicians who care for Texans

The new initiative expands the philanthropic mission of the TAFP Foundation, which supports educational and scientific initiatives to advance family medicine and improve the health of all Texans.

Established in 1960, the Foundation supports medical student scholarships, family medicine interest groups, resident activities, and practice-based research. Contributions from TAFP members and other donors help strengthen the specialty by investing in the next generation of family physicians and supporting the physicians who serve Texas communities.

According to Kathy McCarthy, CAE, executive director of the TAFP Foundation, Dharma's interest in supporting physician wellness emerged following a previous TAFP Annual Session, just as the Academy's Task Force on Physician Well-Being was beginning to develop recommendations for educational programming.

Dharma wanted her contribution to support wellness education year after year, rather than fund a single presentation. The endowment is designed to preserve its principal while providing annual funding for educational activities, establishing a continuing source of support for physician well-being programming.

Dharma hopes her experience will also encourage other physicians to consider how they might contribute to the future of their specialty during their own lifetimes.

"Can I actually do good while I'm still alive?" was among the questions she considered when exploring the possibility of establishing an endowment.

First Dharma Wellness lecture scheduled for November 8

The Dharma Wellness Initiative will make its debut at TAFP's 2026 Annual Session and Primary Care Summit with a presentation by Sarah Ashitey, MD, titled "The Prescription We Never Wrote Ourselves."

Ashitey, a Dallas family physician with Southwest Family Medicine Associates and a member of the TAFP Board of Directors, will present the lecture on Sunday, November 8, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

The inaugural presentation has particular significance for Dharma. Ashitey was once her medical student at UT Southwestern and later joined her practice. Today, Ashitey is a family physician and entrepreneur whose professional interests include coaching and physician well-being.

Having her former student and current colleague deliver the first lecture supported by the endowment brings Dharma's vision full circle.

"If I can help one person, that would be enough," she says.

For more information about Ashitey’s lecture and TAFP's Annual Session and Primary Care Summit, visit www.tafp.org/cme/aspcs.

To learn more about the TAFP Foundation and opportunities to support the future of family medicine, visit www.tafp.org/foundation.