Member of the Month: Linda Siy, M.D.

TAFP past president active in Academy business

posted 07.18.13

In honor of this year’s Annual Session & Scientific Assembly taking place in Fort Worth, the July Member of the Month hails from there as well. Linda Siy, M.D., has been with the JPS Health Network at a Community Health Center in Bedford since 1995. Siy says she enjoys her work there due to the tremendously diverse patient population, including immigrants from all over the world and a large amount of pediatric patients.

Siy is a former president of TAFP and is currently an Alternate Delegate for Texas in the AAFP’s Congress of Delegates. She is very active in the Academy’s committees, commission, and sections and you’ll likely run into her at Annual Session at the end of the month.

Why did you choose family medicine and did anyone inspire you to?
I liked everything in medical school, and particularly enjoyed preventive medicine. I learned the importance of a good primary care base to a population’s overall health while studying the health care system in Great Britain during a semester abroad in medical school. Family medicine was a natural choice for me, since I enjoy the variety it offers and the long-term relationships with patients it affords.

What is the most interesting/memorable experience you have had with a patient?
It’s always a compliment when patients choose to continue coming to me when they have choices to go elsewhere, and refer their family and friends to me. I’ve enjoyed many patients here over the past 18 years, but I tend to remember those cases where I learned from my mistakes, and improved my own practice.

What one word or phrase characterizes your style of family medicine?
Collaborative.

The most important resource I find TAFP/AAFP offers me is:
CME opportunities and advocacy efforts in the state.

With Annual Session coming to your hometown, what do you think attendees should know about Fort Worth? Do you have any suggestions for where they should go/what they should see while in town?
This is one of the best cities to live in in Texas, in my opinion! We have a great blend of fine arts, museums, theatre, as well as the historic “Cowtown” side of Fort Worth in the Stockyards and Northside. Downtown Fort Worth and the west 7th street areas have evolved into a very vibrant community over the past few decades. Yet there is still a small town feel to the people here.

Reflect on your experiences serving as TAFP President and a member of the AAFP Congress of Delegates – what memories come to your mind first?
My year as president of TAFP was marked by transition: Jim White retired and we hired Tom Banning and Kathy McCarthy to take the helm as CEO and COO. We also had initiated the process of buying NPI while I was president.

What do you do in your free time?
I play on a USTA tennis team, and try to play as much as I can! Our team made it to the State Regional Championship finals this year, and I’m really excited since I’ve played USTA for about 10 years, and this is the first year I’ve been on a team that’s gone that far in a season.

If you were not a physician, what would you be doing professionally?
I really have no idea. I don’t think I have any other marketable skills.

TAFP’s Member of the Month program highlights Texas family physicians in TAFP News Now and on the TAFP website. We feature a biography and a Q&A with a different TAFP member each month and his or her unique approach to family medicine. If you know an outstanding family physician colleague who you think should be featured as a Member of the Month or if you’d like to tell your own story, nominate yourself or your colleague by contacting TAFP by e-mail at swhite@tafp.org or by phone at (512) 329-8666. View past Members of the Month here.