Member News

TAFP leader appointed by AAFP
Rebecca Hart, MD, of League City, was appointed to AAFP’s Commission on Continuing Professional Development. She will serve on the commission for a four-year term. Hart is currently TAFP’s parliamentarian and serves on TAFP’s Commission on Public Health, Research, and Clinical Affairs. She was a previous member of AAFP’s Commission on Health of the Public and Science. Hart also previously served as chair of TAFP’s Commission on Academic Affairs, Commission on Continuing Professional Development, and Section on Maternity Care, and as a member of TAFP’s Commission on Core Delegation. She is also a member of the Harris County Chapter.

Local chapters install new officers
Two TAFP local chapters recently installed a new set of officers.

The Tarrant County Chapter officers were installed at the Jan. 30 meeting held in Fort Worth by TAFP’s Immediate Past President Dale Ragle, MD. The new chapter president is James Morgan, MD, of Flower Mound pictured left; President-Elect and Secretary is Richard Young, MD, of Fort Worth pictured right; and Program Chair is Josephine Fowler, MD, of Fort Worth not pictured

The Harris County Chapter officers were installed at the Jan. 13 meeting held in Houston. The new chapter officers are (Pictured from left) Immediate Past President Gregory Johnson, MD; Treasurer Eric Lee, MD; Vice President Lindsay Botsford, MD; President-Elect Puja Sehgal, MD; President Samuel Wang, MD.

Former Texas Family Physician of the Year wins national award
Jasmine Sulaiman, MD, of Cleveland, Texas, was named the 2016 Country Doctor of the Year presented by Staff Care, an AMN Healthcare company. The award honors physicians for their commitment and service and recognizes the spirit, skill, and dedication of rural medical practitioners across the country.

“Dr. Sulaiman represents a new breed of country doctor,” said Sean Ebner, President of Staff Care, in a press release. “She combines the compassion and commitment of old school physicians with the information technology and new practice paradigms of today’s doctors.”

After receiving TAFP’s Texas Family Physician of the Year Award in 2013, Sulaiman humbly thanked TAFP and her colleagues for the honor.

“Actually I don’t do anything different than any of you other family physicians do,” Sulaiman said in her Physician of the Year acceptance speech. Much like the TAFP award, the Country Doctor of the Year award is a great honor to Sulaiman.

“Just like the Texas Family Physician of the Year Award, this recognition encourages me to excel in what I do and continue to guide others, so they too can see the never-ending primary care opportunities to create meaningful, long-lasting impacts on rural health care settings.”

Sulaiman practices at the Health Center of Southeast Texas, a Federally Qualified Health Center where a majority of her patient population is uninsured. She took the position at the newly established clinic when funding was not yet stable, accepting a lower salary then comparative positions would pay, all because she knew helping the heavily uninsured community was where she needed to be.

Cleveland is a small, rural town about 45 miles northeast of Houston. She and her team of medical assistants travel up to 25 miles to visit patients who are homebound, and dedicated patients travel 30 or 40 minutes to see Sulaiman rather than find a closer physician. She also visits patients at a nearby jail each month and supervises three other rural clinics in nearby communities. On top of everything, Sulaiman continues to see patients for 40 hours a week and helped the health center reach Level 2 Patient-Centered Medical Home status.

As a perk for being named the 2016 Country Doctor of the Year, Staff Care will provide the health center in Cleveland with a temporary physician to fill in for Sulaiman while she visits India for two weeks.

Hillsboro member receives Chamber of Commerce award
TAFP member James Earhart, MD, received the Citizen of the Year Award, presented by the Hillsboro Area Chamber of Commerce. Earhart was previously honored as the Citizen of the Year by the Hillsboro Lions Club for his involvement in opening the Mission Hillsboro Medical Clinic. The clinic provides free health care services to those who meet income qualifications and is a ministry of the Central Baptist Church of Hillsboro.

After earning his medical degree from Texas Tech’s School of Medicine and completing a residency at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, Earhart moved to Hillsboro to take a position as staff physician at the Family Diagnostic Medical Center, where he continues to practice today.