Happy holidays, colleagues and friends! What a momentous year our Academy had in 2024. From hosting excellent CME conferences, to forging policy and supporting family medicine leaders in multiple organizations, to engaging with students and residents in new and exciting ways, TAFP – powered by your membership – advanced the specialty of family medicine and strengthened our community.
As the year draws to a close, let’s push the rewind button on the calendar and review TAFP’s big moments of 2024.
In January, TAFP members and staff serving on AAFP commissions traveled to Kansas City for the Winter Cluster to help shape policy for the Academy.
In February, I traveled with other TAFP leaders and staff to Phoenix to meet with leaders from a variety of states at the Multi State Forum. Also in February, one of our Texas family medicine residents, George Downham, visited Austin for a legislative policy internship, which resulted in a resolution to AAFP to advocate for a national tax deduction for physicians serving as community preceptors.
In March, Academy staff helped reinvigorate the TAFP Valley Chapter with a record-breaking meeting in McAllen. Also in March, the staff made Match Day a dynamic celebration with successful social media and email campaigns. Our state’s programs did well in the Match.
In April, we gathered in Austin for the C. Frank Webber Lectureship and Interim Session. Our board voted to transfer $1 million to the TAFP Foundation for student and resident activities. Workforce development is a key priority for TAFP, and the TAFP Foundation is a vital partner in that work. We had a great Member Assembly during the conference with a discussion of value-based care that included our partners Austin Regional Clinic, Aledade, and Main Street Health. Later that month, we sent a full delegation to AAFP’s National Conference of Constituency Leaders in Kansas City. Jessica Garcia, DO, served as a minority co-convener of the conference.
In May, many of us gathered in Dallas to bring the voice of family medicine to TMA’s TexMed. Rodney Young, MD, of Amarillo was elected to the TMA Board of Trustees, and Linda Siy, MD, and Sam Mathis, MD, were elected to the AMA delegation. Members and staff also traveled to Washington D.C. in May for AAFP’s Family Medicine Advocacy Summit, where they got a chance to meet with elected officials and their staff.
In June, more than 325 attendees gathered in San Antonio for the Texas Family Medicine Symposium. In the last few years, we’ve hosted the Family Fun Fest on the Friday night of the conference with games and snacks for all the families enjoying the resort. It always ends up being tons of fun and a big hit with the kiddos!
We also worked with AAFP to bring Primary Care for America to Austin for an event with thought leaders, innovators, and policymakers to focus on the importance of primary care.
We ended June participating in the International Leadership Conference for HOSA Future Health Professionals in Houston. I co-presented with AAFP staff to a group of high school students interested in careers in health care. Members from Houston volunteered to judge the competitive event and to speak on a panel about their journeys in family medicine.
Throughout the summer, pre-clinical medical students spent time with volunteer preceptors across the state through the Texas Family Medicine Preceptorship Program administered by TAFP. We had almost 300 requests and facilitated 168 successful preceptorships. We added a great incentive this year. All summer preceptors were eligible for free registration for Annual Session and we plan to continue that benefit. Thank you to our volunteer preceptors, who do the important work of providing a real-world family medicine experience to interested medical students.
August was a great month for our workforce development efforts. The TAFP Foundation funded 45 scholarships for medical students to attend AAFP’s National Conference in Kansas City. Just three weeks later, we hosted the first TAFP Student and Resident Summit in Grapevine with around 200 attendees. Volunteers shared their experience and knowledge, residency programs met with prospective interns, and much more.
In September, the third cohort of the Resident Leadership Experience met in Austin. I was able to present on leading effective teams, and I can tell you that we’re in good hands with these rising leaders.
Tom Banning, Emily Briggs, MD, MPH, and other TAFP leaders participated in the Rural Texas Maternal Health Assembly hosted by the Texas A&M Rural and Community Health Institute in September. That meeting resulted in the publication of the 2025 Rural Texas Maternal Health Rescue Plan in advance of the 89th Texas Legislature.
Also in September, members and staff traveled to Phoenix for AAFP’s Congress of Delegates and FMX. Our delegation ably represented Texas. While there, Christopher Crow, MD, MBA, received the Robert Graham Physician Executive Award, and we had two residents receive the AAFP Award for Excellence in GME – Madeline Huff and Tochukwu Noh. Congratulations!
In October we celebrated the first National Family Medicine Week along with AAFP and other state chapters. We had a very successful social media campaign, and the staff enjoyed celebrating us and what we do.
Throughout the year, Tom Banning and key leaders have engaged with and presented to a variety of entities including TMA, AAFP, residency programs and local chapters around the state, Texas A&M’s Rural and Community Health Institute, Texas Public Health Coalition, Texas Women’s Health Care Coalition, the family medicine department chairs, and of course key members of the Texas House and Senate as we prepare for the upcoming legislative session.
You may only see us a few days of the year, but TAFP leaders and staff are working on your behalf, advocating for family medicine and our patients. We are only able to do all this work through the support of our members. Your membership matters to the strength of our specialty and our organization, both in Texas and across the nation. So, thank you for your continued membership. Let’s keep it going and have an amazing 2025!