Foundation Focus

Working to build the Foundation of family medicine in Texas
For decades the TAFP Foundation has focused on three strategic objectives: encouraging medical student interest in family medicine, assisting family medicine residents as they become the leaders of tomorrow, and funding practice-based primary care research. The Foundation has continued and expanded on efforts in all of these areas this year.

The Foundation provides funding for medical students to attend AAFP’s National Conference in Kansas City each summer, and this year we are proud to report that a whopping 32 students received travel funds. Another program of the Foundation is to support Family Medicine Interest Groups to allow them to plan meetings on campus and encourage student interest. With new campuses and medical schools opening around the state, the TAFP Foundation is ready to support FMIGs wherever there are medical students.

At the end of 2015, the Foundation Board of Trustees voted to expand our research funding for the first time in over two decades by increasing the maximum amount that can be awarded, which resulted in more interesting research proposals for the Research Grants Committee to review. Projects funded in 2016 will examine physician burnout, behavioral therapy for obesity management in primary care, and screening and referral for abuse in emergency care settings.

In addition to these three objectives, the board added a fourth area of focus this year to improve the health of Texans. Dr. Tamra Deuser, a longtime TAFP leader, passed away in 2015 after a battle with metastatic breast cancer. She shared her experience as a patient at the 2015 C. Frank Webber Lectureship in an effort to help her colleagues provide better end-of-life care to their patients.

To honor her and continue this important work, the TAFP Foundation started an endowment to support an annual Tamra K. Deuser Memorial Lecture on end-of-life care. The first lecture will be given at TAFP’s Annual Session and Primary Care Summit in Dallas by her friend, colleague, and former residency director, Dr. Clare Hawkins. We hope to finish funding the endowment at the upcoming meeting in Dallas with a special Foundation Gourmet Dinner fundraiser.

TAFP Foundation awards first Henry J. Boehm Jr., MD, Scholarship
Aaron Reinke, MD, is the first recipient of the Henry J. Boehm, Jr., MD, Scholarship. The scholarship was created to honor the career of Boehm, who has practiced family medicine for more than 50 years.

“I’m am certainly humbled and very gracious for the award,” Reinke says. “I extend my sincere thank you for the Boehm family’s generous gift. Indeed, I have heard nothing but incredible things about Dr. Boehm.”

The scholarship was created to benefit residents at the Texas A&M HSC Family Medicine Residency Program in the community Boehm served throughout his career. The funds have been designated to help cover attendance costs for an AAFP continuing medical education conference.

“I was originally working on a project for improving our transitions-of-care for our hospitalized patients,” Reinke says. “Handoffs are an issue with any medical practice of multiple providers and I found it to be a particular interest after seeing the process in place at our residency. After working on the issue for several months, our program director, Dr. [Kory] Gill emailed us about the Boehm scholarship and was looking for individuals who had proposals of projects for the residency.”

Boehm graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1962. He spent 34 years at the Brenham Clinic, then at his own office. He served as president of the Washington-Burleson County Medical Society, as well as chief of staff of Bohne, St. Jude’s, and Trinity hospitals. Boehm was also a member of the faculty of the Texas A&M medical school, and was the medical director of the Washington County EMS and of AMA Home Care and Gazebo Terrace Nursing Home.

Reinke received his medical degree from the Dartmouth Medical School in 2014. He is currently in his third year at the Texas A&M Family Medicine Residency Program. Reinke plans to pursue rural full-spectrum family medicine somewhere in the mountains, as well as international mission work in the future.

“I want to thank Dr. Kory Gill, Dr. Ana Lichorad, Courtney Dodge, and Robin Fuller for all the time and effort they put forth to advocate for the changes we made and are still making to improving patient safety and delivery of better care through our project,” Reinke says.