Member of the Month 2014
Meet the 2014 Members of the Month
January | Dan Sepdham, MD | Flower Mound
Former military physician advocates for primary care
Dan Sepdham, MD, went to medical school on a military scholarship and paid back his debt after residency by spending six years in the Air Force as a flight surgeon. After being stationed in Florida and the United Kingdom, Sepdham joined the faculty at the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UT Southwestern, where he has been since 2006.
February | Ajay Gupta, MD | Austin
TAFP officer values personal relationships with patients
After being raised by first generation immigrant parents in Chicago and Houston, TAFP Treasurer Ajay Gupta, MD, graduated with his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and completed a residency program in Corpus Christi. He quickly joined Jefferson Street Family Practice in Austin and is still there today.
March | Tracey Haas, DO, MPH | Austin
Austin physician interested in helping the world’s underserved and fellow physicians alike
While Texas native Tracey Haas, DO, MPH, has always claimed the state as home, her career in the medical field has allowed her to travel all over the globe. From a residency in New England where she met her husband to helping in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, Haas says she has been involved in medical missions for years and is interested in helping out the poverty stricken around the world.
April | Bruce Russell, MD | Port Aransas
Coastal Bend physician encourages patients to spend time in nature
While caring for patients in his community of Port Aransas, Dr. Bruce Russell encourages kids and families to be outside through the Nature Rocks program he is afiliated with in the Coastal Bend area. Family medicine was an easy choice for him while a student, thanks to the family physician that delivered him and cared for him through his medical school years.
May | Mary Nguyen, MD | Castroville
Rural doc enjoys caring for multiple generations of families
After earning her undergraduate degrees from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, a medical degree from UTHSC at Houston, and completing a residency with CHRISTUS Santa Rosa, Dr. Mary Nguyen took her state boards and immediately jumped into practicing. Literally. “Once I graduated from residency, I took my boards on a Friday and started work the following Monday,” says Nguyen.
June | Linda May, MD | San Antonio
TAFP Board member hopes to be voice of Texas residents
After attending the University of Texas at Austin for her undergraduate degree, Linda May, MD, moved to Bayamon, Puerto Rico to attend the Universidad Central del Caribe for medical school. She then completed a residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where she is currently the chief resident.
July | Joe Anzaldúa, MD | Sugar Land
Sugar Land doctor loyal to community
Dr. Joe Anzaldúa has been in private practice in the Sugar Land area since 1985 and has been on faculty at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston since 1994. He is also the medical director of Emergency Medical Services for Sugar Land, Stafford, and Missouri City.
September | Emily Briggs, MD, MPH | New Braunfels
New physician Board member hopes to speak for younger doctors
After finishing a residency at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa, Dr. Emily Briggs set up camp and her own private practice in New Braunfels, Texas. It is now five years later and her full scope practice is thriving enough that in 2012 she hired a second physician. Briggs was recently elected as the new physician member for not only the TAFP Board of Directors, but also for the AAFP Board.
October | Terrance Hines, MD | Austin
TAFP Board member followed parents’ footsteps into health care
After completing an undergraduate degree and a medical degree at Texas A&M and a residency at John Peter Smith, choosing family medicine was a natural decision for Terrance Hines, MD, who knew he wanted to be a family doctor since before beginning medical school, thanks to his nurse parents and his childhood physician.
November | Nish Shah, MD | Houston
Resident member chose family medicine long before medical school
Long before even entering the Baylor College of Medicine, Shah knew family medicine was the path for him. He was born and raised in Houston by parents who firmly believed in academics and that hard work and discipline allow you to accomplish anything. Now in his second year at the Houston Methodist San Jacinto Family Medicine Residency program, Shah is very active in TAFP’s Section on Residents.