Your Membership Matters
Explore the benefits of membership in TAFP and AAFP.
Steps to getting involved with your Academy
TAFP’s success depends on active engagement from members. Lucky for us, we have plenty of opportunities for members to get involved. Here is a path through various levels of involvement complete with resources to help you along the way.
Step 1: Starting out
By completing the TAFP Engagement Form, you tell us about your interests. We store that information in your member record. That way, when opportunities for involvement arise throughout the year, we know who to call.
Show up at our in-person meetings and participate! Attend the TAFP Member Assembly to hear more about the work of TAFP and share your opinions. You can volunteer to serve as delegate or alternate from your local chapter, or just attend. There is a Member Assembly at each Annual Session and Primary Care Summit and C. Frank Webber Lectureship and Interim Session. Contact Kathy McCarthy for more information.
When staff sends emails based on the engagement form for micro-volunteering efforts like awards screening, CME planning, or judging the research poster competition, say yes! We need member involvement for so many activities and we make those opportunities easy with a short-term commitment.
If you live in an area with an active local chapter, get involved with your TAFP local chapter. Here's a list of local chapters and their contacts.
Download the TAFP membership app and join groups based on your interest. Make connections with your colleagues and participate in the discussion.
Step 2: Level up
Apply to serve on a TAFP council or committee.
The application period opens early in the summer each year with a September 1 deadline. If appointed, participate in meetings and volunteer for work groups and task forces.
RESIDENT AND MEDICAL STUDENT APPLICATION
Learn more about our committees
Represent TAFP at AAFP leadership conferences.
If eligible, apply to represent TAFP at AAFP’s National Conference of Constituency Leaders. The application opens in November each year and the conference is typically in late April in Kansas City. The five constituencies are women, minorities, new physicians, international medical graduates, and LGBTQ+ physicians and allies. Attending NCCL or the Annual Chapter Leader Forum gives you an opportunity to build your leadership skills, but also network and get to know peers and TAFP leaders and staff.
Step 3: Keep climbing
After serving on a council or committee for a few years, apply to be the chair or vice chair.
Contact Kathy McCarthy for more information.
Another great opportunity to serve and build your credentials is an AAFP Commission. The application is open to all AAFP members, but TAFP only recommends one member for each commission each year and that screening is done by the Nominating Committee early in the summer. It’s best (but not required) to first serve on a TAFP committee or council.
Serving on the TAFP Nominating Committee gives you greater insight into the process. There is typically a mix of members on their way up the leadership ladder and those who have completed service as president so that the committee encompasses a diversity of perspectives.
The committee includes nine members with staggered three-year terms.
The application for the committee opens in the summer, and applicants must be active members who have served at least two years on a council or committee.
Step 4: Going to the top
Apply to serve on the TAFP Board of Directors
If you’ve done it all and want to make a deeper commitment, apply for the TAFP Board of Directors. The Board has 15 members including a new physician, advocate for diversity and health equity, and four at large director positions. Learn more about the process of serving on the board by reading the standing rules for the TAFP Nominating Committee.
Serve as a TAFP officer
TAFP has five officers — president, president-elect, treasurer, parliamentarian, and immediate past president/board chair. Active members can apply for any officer position. While not required, prior Board service is recommended before applying for an officer position and the path for officers is usually to serve as parliamentarian first, followed by treasurer, and then president-elect.
Represent TAFP at the AAFP Congress of Delegates
Texas has two delegates and two alternates to the AAFP Congress of Delegates. Candidates for these positions must either be a TAFP Past President or have served on the TAFP Board and in a leadership position with AAFP.
For information and the link to submit your application for any of these positions, contact Kathy McCarthy at kmccarthy@tafp.org.
Job descriptions for TAFP officers and other leaders
PURPOSE
The president serves as chief elected officer, representing the entire membership and the best interests of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians. He or she acts as spokesperson and takes an important part in monitoring and evaluating organizational effectiveness and accomplishment. The president is automatically a member of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and the Delegation Advisory Group, the Member Assembly, and an ex-officio member of the TAFP Foundation Board of Trustees.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Attend all meetings of the Board of Directors. Preside over meetings of the Executive Committee and the Members Assembly.
- As president-elect, chair the screening committee to appoint chairs and members to the TAFP committees and councils.
- Help to establish duties and agendas for committees and monitor their progress.
- Serve as an ex-officio member on all TAFP committees.
- Suggest representatives or nominees to other organizations and agencies with approval of the Board or Executive Committee.
- Support and defend policies and programs adopted by the Board of Directors.
- Promote interest and active participation in the Academy on the part of the membership and report activities to the Board of Directors by means of letters, publications, and/or speeches.
- Act as spokesperson for TAFP to the press, the public, legislative bodies, and related organizations when deemed appropriate or necessary.
- In cooperation with those with financial responsibilities, help develop, recommend, and see that the finances of the association are audited annually.
QUALIFICATIONS
The president must be an active member in good standing. The president will be sworn in after serving one year as president-elect.
PURPOSE
The president-elect’s term of office serves primarily as a year of training prior to becoming president. He or she will succeed to the office of president at the conclusion of the first annual business meeting following the business meeting at which his or her election occurred. The president-elect is automatically a member of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and the Delegation Advisory Group, the Member Assembly, and an ex-officio member of the TAFP Foundation Board of Trustees. The president-elect is an ex-officio member of every TAFP council and committee.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Attend all meetings of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee.
- Serve as chair of the Delegation Advisory Group.
- Serve as an ex-officio member of all TAFP committees.
- Preside at meetings of the Academy in the absence of the president.
- Be familiar with the following: historical perspective, bylaws, long-range and strategic plans, goals and priorities, rules of order, committee actions during the year, and legislative priorities.
QUALIFICATIONS
The president-elect must be an active member in good standing. Normally candidates will have served several years as an officer prior to serving as president-elect.
PURPOSE
The function of the treasurer is to oversee the financial operations of TAFP. He or she should ensure that adequate and proper accounting records are kept, and properties and funds of TAFP are managed appropriately. The treasurer is automatically a member of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, the Delegation Advisory Group, the Member Assembly, and an ex-officio member of the TAFP Foundation Board of Trustees, as well as Chair of the Finance Committee.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Meet with the CEO/EVP and the TAFP financial manager on a quarterly basis throughout the term of office.
- Review the audit.
- Render a financial report at meetings of the Board of Directors.
- Work with the staff to prepare a budget.
- Advise the Board on the availability of funds for any financial requests by committees outside of the approved operating budget.
QUALIFICATIONS
The treasurer must be an active member in good standing. Normally candidates will have served as an officer for at least one year prior to serving as treasurer.
PURPOSE
The parliamentarian shall inform the officers and Board of Directors of proper parliamentary procedures, following the American Institute of Parliamentarians “Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure.” The parliamentarian is automatically a member of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, the Delegation Advisory Group, the Member Assembly, and an ex-officio member of the TAFP Foundation Board of Trustees. They are also the board liaison to the Bylaws Committee.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Attend TAFP Board of Directors meetings to ensure proper parliamentarian procedure is followed.
QUALIFICATIONS
The parliamentarian must be an active member in good standing. Normally candidates will have served at least one year on the Board of Directors prior to serving as parliamentarian.
PURPOSE
TAFP has a 15-member Board of Directors with four at-large directors — two elected each year for two-year terms. The board is the governing body for TAFP and is responsible for the control and administration of the organization.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Attend meetings of the TAFP Board of Directors and any assigned committees or councils
- Participate in any conference calls between meetings and keep up with issues via email
- Attend the Member Assembly.
QUALIFICATIONS
Directors must be active members in good standing. Past participation in TAFP committees and councils is preferred.
PURPOSE
TAFP has a 15-member Board of Directors with one new physician director. The term of office is one year. The board is the governing body for TAFP and is responsible for the control and administration of the organization.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Attend meetings of the TAFP Board of Directors and any assigned committees or councils.
- Participate in any conference calls between meetings and keep up with issues via email.
- Attend the Member Assembly.
QUALIFICATIONS
The new physician director must be an active member in good standing in the first seven years out of residency. Past participation in TAFP committees and councils is preferred.
PURPOSE
TAFP has a 15-member Board of Directors with one advocate for diversity and health equity. The term of office is two years. The board is the governing body for TAFP and is responsible for the control and administration of the organization.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Attend meetings of the TAFP Board of Directors and any assigned committees or councils.
- Participate in any conference calls between meetings and keep up with issues via email.
- Attend the Member Assembly.
QUALIFICATIONS
The advocate for diversity and health equity must be an active member in good standing with a commitment to advocate for issues of diversity and health equity in board deliberations.
PURPOSE
Members in these positions represent the Texas Academy of Family Physicians to the American Academy of Family Physicians and its Congress of Delegates. Alternate delegates represent TAFP to AAFP in the absence of the delegates. Delegates are automatically members of the TAFP Board of Directors and both delegates and alternates are members of the Delegation Advisory Group.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Attend the Annual AAFP Congress of Delegates meeting. It is also suggested that they attend the AAFP Annual Chapter Leader Forum and the Multi-State Forum. Know TAFP policies and positions and reflect them in votes and discussions at the AAFP Congress of Delegates. Inform the Board of Directors of the candidates for AAFP office and solicit the opinion of the directors. Inform the Delegation Advisory Group and Board of Directors of important activities of AAFP.
QUALIFICATIONS
Delegates and alternates must be active members in good standing. Candidates must have either served as TAFP President or served on the TAFP Board of Directors and in AAFP leadership positions such as delegates from constituencies or other state chapters, co-conveners of the National Conference of Constituency Leaders or as commission chairs.