Statement by Texas Academy of Family Physicians President Mary Nguyen, MD, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling regarding Roe v. Wade.

Like all health care, abortion is a deeply personal issue. Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice or somewhere in between, today's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court will undoubtedly cause a great deal of confusion for many Texans and family physicians. While it will take time to fully understand how this ruling and existing Texas laws will affect patient care, I know family physicians will continue counseling their patients to make medical decisions together about what care is best for them.

The Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade ends a half-century of federal constitutional protection of abortion rights and allows each state to decide whether to restrict or ban abortion. In Texas, which already has a “trigger law” in place, that would mean a near total ban on abortion. 

By TAFP President Mary Nguyen, MD, and Texas Pediatric Society President-Elect Louis Appel, MD, MPH

We urge all physicians to become educated about the ongoing mental health crisis our youth and families are facing. These are the facts none of us can escape in our busy practices: one in four children suffer from a mental health condition, 50% of serious mental health disorders have been diagnosed by age 14, and suicide rates continue to increase for young people. COVID-19 has only worsened these worrisome national trends.

Between 2016 and 2020, the number of children ages three to 17 diagnosed with anxiety grew by 29%, and depression jumped by 27%. Those numbers are expected to grow even more as young people recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health. In 2022 they released a Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention detailing prevention strategies designed to support pediatric health clinicians.

By Tammy Wishard

In a recent advisory calling attention to health care worker burnout, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, highlighted the broad response the situation calls for: “We must ensure that every health worker has access to affordable, confidential, and convenient mental health care.”

If finances are keeping you or someone you know from seeking treatment for depression, anxiety, substance use, or other conditions, the Texas Medical Association’s PBF Wellness Fund is here to help overcome that barrier.

By Anticipate Joy

It’s 2022 and sad to say the stigma surrounding seeking mental health services is still alive and well. Despite well-intended efforts to reduce the stigma, many people continue to see mental health issues as a sign of weakness, leaving those who suffer from mental illness feeling alone in their struggle. However, if mental health is a concern for you, you are far from alone. In 2019, 20.6% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness, representing 51.5 million people or one in five adults. 5.2% of U.S. adults experienced serious mental illness, representing 13.1 million people or one in 20 adults. Mental illness is more common than you might believe, demonstrating that you are not the only one struggling.

Of particular concern, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, early evidence suggests the rate of depression in physicians across age groups is 25%. A study evaluating barriers to treatment for physicians found that 70% of physicians with moderate to severe depression reported “getting an appointment that fits my schedule” as a major barrier to mental health treatment.

Once a year, family medicine residents and medical students come together to engage in real talk about family medicine with family medicine leaders, educators, and recruiters at the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students, held July 28 – 30 in Kansas City, Missouri. This year’s conference will inspire attendees to choose a dynamic career in family medicine — one that literally can take you anywhere. Attendees will hear from nationally recognized speakers.

National Conference also offers:

• An Expo Hall with 400 exhibitors including residency programs, physician employers, medical missions, fellowships, government agencies, and more.
• Workshops on topics such as career planning, health policy and advocacy, leadership and development, and research.
• The ability to influence AAFP policy and develop leadership skills in the student and resident congresses.
• Enhance your clinical skills, such as providing trauma-informed care, understanding reproductive and maternal care in family medicine, learning procedures, and more.

By Samantha White

If you haven’t yet registered for the upcoming TAFP C. Frank Webber Lectureship and Interim Session happening April 8 – 9 in Austin, there’s no time like the present! In addition to the incredible 16.25 CME credits offered Friday and Saturday and our standard council meetings happening Friday morning, we have a series of exciting firsts for TAFP on Saturday.

Our first Member Assembly at Interim Session will take place at breakfast and include a great discussion on trends in health care from author Peter Valenzuela, MD, MBA. Attendees will receive a copy of his new, insightful book Doc-Related.

By Jonathan Nelson

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan announced interim committee charges for the 87^th Legislature on March 10 including several items of interest to family physicians and their patients. The speaker also announced the creation of two special interim committees, one on health care reform and the other on criminal justice reform.

“The interim charges are the result of my conversations with House colleagues from across the state, many of whom have concluded there is more work to be done to reform the state's health care and criminal justice systems,” Speaker Phelan said in a press release. “That’s why I have formed two interim committees to devote special attention to these issues, which I consider of utmost importance heading into the next legislative session.”

By Larry Kravitz, MD, and Lily Cormier

Such high hopes when it all began in 1970, with a new specialty that renamed itself and decided to take primary care seriously. Family medicine is now more than 50 years old, with 133,000 physicians in the United States. Where will it all be 50 years from now?

There is an old African proverb, “Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.” We see our medical past in terms of our victories, but we minimize our failures. So we do as well with the future; we expect to build on our successes, and don’t understand that our failures tag along and can poison the wellspring of our dreams. As long as we keep applying the template of our distorted past to our expectations of the future, we will never see it coming. The future threatens to run over us from behind as we’re squinting our gaze to a glorious distant horizon. The future is all around us right now, but it is clouded by the rose-colored lenses we insist on wearing. We don’t need a false prophet nor do we need a harbinger of doom, but there are two conflicting futures ahead and we need to embrace them both.