Dallas hosts TAFP's 2016 Annual Session and Primary Care Summit

Report from TAFP’s 2016 Annual Session and Primary Care Summit

Words by Perdita Henry and photos by Jonathan Nelson

Family physicians and other health professionals from around the state gathered in Dallas Nov. 4-6, 2016 for TAFP’s Annual Session and Primary Care Summit. This was TAFP’s most well-attended conference ever, with almost 600 total registrants. Attendees networked, earned CME, shaped TAFP policy at committee and commission meetings, and celebrated the specialty of family medicine.

As always, attendees had opportunities to learn about a variety of topics during the scientific portion of the conference. Participants could also attend Knowledge Self-Assessment Module workshops Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, on Health Behavior, Hypertension, Diabetes, and Well Child Care. The National Procedures Institute offered their popular X-Ray Interpretation course.

Click to view photos from Annual Session.

The TAFP Foundation held a gourmet dinner to benefit the Tamra Deuser, MD, Endowment. Thank you to AbbVie for sponsoring the event at the Platinum level and Dr. Robert Youens, Texas Medical Association, and Texas Medical Liability Trust for being Gold Level sponsors.

After a breakfast lecture on Friday morning by Edward Dominguez, MD, on emerging infectious diseases, our keynote speaker Christopher Crow, MD, MBA, opened the conference’s CME general session with a presentation on “Physician Leadership in a Time of Change.” The rest of the weekend’s CME included topics on migraine treatment and management, common teen eating disorders, an ethics talk on palliative care, a lecture on testosterone replacement therapy in women and men, and much more. AAFP immediate past board chair Robert Wergin, MD, of Nebraska addressed attendees Sunday morning providing an update on the national academy.

At the TAFP Member Assembly, delegates from TAFP’s local chapters elected Emily Briggs, MD, MPH, to serve as an at-large director, and Ike Okwuwa, MD, to serve as the new physician director on the TAFP Board of Directors. Mary Nguyen, MD; Samuel Mathis, MD; and Carissa Huq were elected to serve as the special constituencies director, the resident physician director, and the medical student director respectively.

TAFP’s 2016 award recipients and new officers
Saturday’s Annual Business and Awards Lunch began with members present voting to adopt the TAFP bylaws changes. Next, TAFP’s top honors were announced. Here’s a list of this year’s winners.

Physician of the Year:
Kaparaboyna Ashok Kumar, MD
Originally from India, Dr. Kumar earned his medical degree from, Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad, India. After completing an internship at Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad, India, he went on to complete a general surgery residency at Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He would later immigrate to the United States and complete an additional residency in Family Medicine at UT Health Center at Tyler.

Kumar has served as president of TAFP, is the current chair of the Healthcare Committee of San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council, and is a member of the Mayor’s Executive Committee. In addition to various leadership positions he is currently a professor of family and community medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School in San Antonio and continues to mentor the next generation of family medicine medical students and residents.

After accepting the award, Kumar reflected on the journey that lead him to this moment. “I practiced on three continents, in India, England, and in America and I know this personally; a caring attitude and compassion transcends nationality barriers, racial barriers, cultural barriers, and language barriers. The care and compassion we provide are not tangible things any clinic or hospital administrator, or any insurance company, or lawmaking body can measure.”

Physician Emeritus:
Presley Joe Mock, Jr., MD
Dr. Mock graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown, earned his medical degree from University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and trained at the school of Submarine Medicine. After his stint in the Navy, he returned to Texas and began his private practice in La Porte, which he ran for 51 years. He has been a longtime active member of the local Harris County TAFP chapter, serving as president twice, has served on numerous TAFP committees and commissions, and was a long time preceptor mentoring numerous medical students over the years. He is currently retired.

Physician Emeritus:
Norman H. Chenven, MD
Dr. Chenven is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Austin Regional Clinic which is one of the largest family medicine focused multi-specialty groups in the state of Texas serving more than 400,000 Central Texans. His dedication to Austin Regional Clinic helped expand the network from primary care to include OB/GYN and general surgery while continuing to strive for excellence. He continues to make his mark by holding various positions on numerous committees and task forces both locally and nationally to ensure the voices of primary care physicians are heard.

Patient Advocacy Award:
Senator Craig Estes
When the Wichita Falls Family Medicine Residency Program faced the possibility of closure earlier this year, Sen. Estes brought the parties involved together to forge an agreement and save the program. Working alongside TAFP, Sen. Estes made sure everyone in the negotiations seriously considered the ramifications such a closure would have to the community, patient access to care, and future physician workforce trends. Through Sen. Estes’ hard work, the Wichita Falls Family Medicine Residency Program joined forces with a local community health center and will continue operations, serving more patients and provide residents even more clinical training opportunities than before.

Public Health Award:
Harlan “Mark” Guidry, MD, MPH
Dr. Guidry has over 20 years of experience as a local and regional health authority at the city, state, county, and regional levels. As the Executive Director and District Health Authority for Galveston District for more than 12 years, he has successfully addressed and prevented illness in various situations such as childhood lead poisoning concerns, infectious disease outbreaks, and Hurricane Ike. He has also contributed to several state and local public health policy forums and served as vice chair of the Texas Public Health Funding and Policy Committee, which made recommendations to the legislator on the improvement of public health in Texas.

Exemplary Teaching Award:
Grant C. Fowler, MD
Dr. Fowler is currently a professor and vice chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. In his position he oversees medical student and resident educations, instructs them in both clinical and hospital settings, and is a continuing medical education lecturer. He has received numerous recognitions and awards for his work as a professor, physician, and scholar from Texas Monthly Magazine as Top Doctor every year since 2004, Best Doctors in America every year since 1997, and the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston every year since its inception.

Special Constituency Leadership Award:
Mary S. Nguyen, MD
Dr. Nguyen is a physician practicing at Medina Valley Family Practice. She’s been an active member of TAFP serving on multiple committees and commissions since her residency in 1999 and she has served the Alamo chapter of TAFP three times as president. She has served on AAFP’s Congress of Delegates and written resolutions for the National Conference of Special Constituencies, where she serves as the minority co-convener, to bring awareness to the challenges facing new, minority, women physicians and international medical graduates. Nguyen was elected multiple times as the TAFP delegate to the National Conference of Constituency Leaders. She teaches and mentors medical students and is well known in her community as a dedicated physician who often volunteers.

TAFP Foundation Philanthropist of the Year:
Lewis E. Foxhall, MD
Dr. Foxhall is a family physician, professor, and senior leader at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Throughout his career, he has been a leader in organized medicine on all levels, including serving as TAFP president and on the Texas Medical Association Board of Trustees. He served as director of the Texas Statewide Family Medicine Preceptorship Program for more than a decade and remains a vocal champion of student interest activities. Foxhall has served on the TAFP Foundation Board of Trustees for close to 25 years, including seven years as treasurer, and is a generous monthly donor who reached the fifth level of the cumulative donor program in 2016.

TAFP Political Action Committee Award:
Justin V. Bartos, MD
Dr. Bartos is a longtime advocate for family medicine, working hard to develop relationships with his elected officials, and is a tireless advocate for family physicians and patients. Not only does he serve as a key contact, but he is also regarded as an expert in health policy. He has served on the TAFP PAC Board of Directors for over 12 years and remains one of the top financial contributors to the PAC over the last decade.

Following the presentation of awards, Dr. Wergin installed TAFP’s 2016-2017 officers. They are President Tricia Elliott, MD; President-elect Janet Hurley, MD; Vice President Javier “Jake” Margo, Jr., MD; Treasurer Rebecca Hart, MD; and Parliamentarian Amer Shakil, MD.

In her inaugural address, Elliott thanked the many physician leaders who have gone before her and several mentors who have guided her along her path. She encouraged family physicians to become involved in the Academy for the sake of the specialty as well as their own fulfillment. “I look forward to advocating for you and being your voice on the broad health care and systems issues that face us in our daily practices,” she told the audience. “I hope to inspire the future family physicians in our students and residents to excitedly embrace family medicine as the noble and joyous profession it is.”

Mark your calendars now for upcoming symposia. The 2017 C. Frank Webber Lectureship will be held April 7-8, 2017 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel. The Texas Family Medicine Symposium will be June 2-4, 2017 at La Cantera Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, and next year’s Annual Session and Primary Care Summit will be Nov. 10-12, 2017 in Galveston. For the full 2017 schedule, go to www.tafp.org/professional-development.