Name: Samuel E. Mathis, MD
Specialty: Family Medicine
City: Galveston
County Medical Society: Galveston CMS
Samuel Mathis, MD, recognized the importance of getting involved in organized medicine as early as his medical student days. He has been a Texas Medical Association member for 13 years.
“Physician organizations like TMA are the only groups that actively and consistently advocate for what is best for our patients,” said Dr. Mathis. He believes every patient deserves to receive quality care from a physician who is engaged in helping him or her receive the best possible health care.
In 2022, Dr. Mathis was elected to TMA’s Board of Trustees representing TMA’s Young Physician Section (TMA-YPS).
He also has represented Texas resident physicians and TMA’s YPS in the American Medical Association (AMA) Resident and Fellow, and Young Physicians sections. Dr. Mathis has served in the AMA House of Delegates, both as a resident alternate delegate and as a delegate for the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
Within his specialty, Dr. Mathis served as the new physician member on the AAFP Board of Directors from 2021-22.
Dr. Mathis also served president of the Galveston County Medical Society, in 2022 having previously served as the local society’s vice president and secretary.
Dr. Mathis encourages fellow young physician leaders to get involved and stay involved in organized medicine. He believes so strongly in this he invites at least one new physician or student to every event he attends so he can draw more physicians in.
“Outside of the care given to your patients, advocacy is the most important thing you can do for your patients and their health,” said Dr. Mathis.
If physicians don’t advocate sufficiently for their patients, Dr. Mathis said, he fears what he calls the increasing intrusion of outside forces into the physician-patient relationship. “Between government, business, insurance, and other competing interests [exerting influence], it is becoming increasingly difficult to honor the trust between a patient and their physician,” he said.
In the best interest of patients, his hope is to see greater communication and engagement between TMA and other organizations across the state. “The best outcomes for medicine,” he said, “will come with physician-led teams working with all relevant stakeholders to improve the health of all Texans.”