TAFP has a new governance structure, and the Section on Medical Students and Section on Resident Physicians no longer exist. In their place, a TAFP Resident and Student Leader Forum meets virtually throughout the year and a Residency Network with representatives from all programs and an FMIG Network with representatives from all medical schools meets a few times a year.

The student and resident board members serve as co-chairs at the forum that include the chair, chair-elect, National Conference representatives, Member Assembly representatives, members serving on the new councils, resident and student advisors to the TAFP Foundation, the FMIG coordinator, and the resident advisors. There will also be an active member in attendance serving as the TAFP Board Liaison.

Monthly meetings during the academic year allow members to share information, plan live educational meetings, and carry out other projects.

By Anticipate Joy

The sun is out, the school year is drawing to a close, and Texas is embarking upon absolutely balmy 100+ degree weather. Summer is officially here.

While the summer season is always depicted as a chance to relax and unwind, it can be a very stressful time. Trying to plan vacations, enduring an influx of clients rushing to get appointments before school starts back up in August, and missing out on time with loved ones who might be home while you’re at work can all be stressors impacting your mental health. Combine that with all the challenges this year has brought with the pandemic — specifically impacting your industry so greatly — can lead to a great deal of built-up anxiety going into the summer months.

By Anticipate Joy

Responses to the “Medscape Family Medicine Physician Lifestyle, Happiness and Burnout Report 2021” indicate that in a study of more than 12,000 physicians from more than 29 specialties, family physicians are in the middle of the pack in rankings by specialty regarding happiness outside of work.

As guest speakers at TAFP's C. Frank Webber Lectureship, our co-founders Dr. Evans and Dr. Tetterton were delighted to meet many of you face to face. They shared the importance of family physicians taking care of their mental health. This has become increasingly important because researchers have consistently shown a trend of surging rates of physician burnout. It may not come as a surprise that the COVID pandemic has drained the medical profession; nearly half (47%) of family physicians in the Medscape survey reported experiencing severe burnout. In fact, an alarming 1 in 10 physicians is considering leaving medicine as a result.

By AAFP Public Relations

On May 4, 2021, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a new report, “Implementing High-Quality Primary Care,” that details the importance of having high-quality primary care in America and the positive difference it would make for individuals, communities and the entire country. AAFP was one of the sponsors of the study.

Building on the foundation set forth in the Institute of Medicine’s 1996 report, “Primary Care: America’s Health in a New Era,” NASEM’s report is the result of nearly 18 months of research and work to examine the role that primary care should play in the U.S. health care system.

By Jonathan Nelson

After the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it would pull out of an agreement to extend the Texas Medicaid 1115 Transformation Waiver for 10 years, a bipartisan group of Texas House members joined health care organizations including TAFP, employers, and advocacy groups to push for a plan that would increase coverage for Texans.

The 1115 waiver allows hospitals to draw down federal funds to cover uncompensated care costs incurred when uninsured patients can’t pay for their care. While CMS subsidizes those costs for hospitals, community physicians are not covered by the waiver. The state’s current waiver remains in effect until Sept. 30, 2022, but this recent decision by CMS throws into question the stability of Texas’ health care safety net programs after that date.

By Jonathan Nelson

Speaker Dade Phelan led a bipartisan group of representatives in announcing support for a number of bills to address access to health care during a press conference at the State Capitol on April 7, 2021. The Healthy Families, Healthy Texas plan marks a serious commitment to tackle some longstanding barriers to care facing Texas patients.

“The goal of this legislative package is to make health care more affordable, more accessible, and to save lives through better health outcomes,” Phelan said.

By Edith Ortiz, MBA

The Child Psychiatry Access Network can assist a primary care physician during a mental-health-focused assessment in the office, providing them with education and recommendations for evidence-based interventions. Studies show that families place enormous trust in you, their family doctor, and often prefer to have mental health issues managed without a referral to a specialist. Our CPAN team is there to support that process as well as help locate mental health services when the problem is severe and warrants specialty intervention.

We are happy to take a call whether the patient is in your office or not. Call us when you get that inbox message and are not sure of the next steps. Call us when an intervention you have recommended is not effective. Call us when you want help explaining a mental health challenge to a family. You will reach a team member within five minutes of your call, and if a child psychiatry team member is needed to assist, they will call you back within 30 minutes.

By Dr. Karla Evans and Dr. Veronica Tetterton, co-founders of Anticipate Joy

Spring is finally here! The change in season inspires motivation for a refreshing change in our environments and moods. Spring is often associated with cleaning and re-organization of our homes. But today we would like to encourage thoughtful consideration to setting aside some time to declutter your mind. By getting rid of stress, anxiety, racing thoughts, or negativity that you may be holding on to, you create a refreshing space for peace, joy, and enjoyment to settle in, and we have the perfect strategy to help. This month we would like to feature a couple of mindfulness strategies to help you gain greater perspective and peace of mind.

So what is mindfulness? Mindfulness is an integrative mind-body strategy to help manage your thoughts, feelings, and mental health. Research shows mindfulness helps relieve stress, treat heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, and improve mental health. Here are a couple of easy ways to tap into mindfulness.