Five decades ago, medical students, residents, and fellows were given a formal voice within the Texas Medical Association via its Medical Student Section (MSS) and Resident and Fellow Section (RFS).
As these groups celebrate their 50th anniversaries this year, the collective voice of medicine’s next generation has never been stronger – shaping the future of health care by giving students from every Texas medical school, as well as physicians in training, a voice in Texas medicine.
It’s an objective that’s seen success, as many former MSS and RFS members have gone on to hold significant leadership roles in TMA and the American Medical Association. Fort Worth allergist Sue Bailey, MD, for example, across a colorful and varied medical career, has served as president of both TMA and AMA – while also navigating a private practice for over 30 years.
Now, Dr. Bailey’s career has gone full circle. She serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Humanities in Medicine at her alma mater, the Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine at Texas A&M University, where she mentors the next generation of medicine.
Dr. Bailey said she “wouldn’t be where she is today” without joining TMA’s MSS in 1978 as a first-year medical student, where she first learned about TMA and AMA’s mission and work and benefited from “mentorship, education, and encouragement.” Dr. Bailey joined the group just two years after its inception in 1976 and went on to chair both the MSS and RFS.
“There is no question that being involved in the TMA MSS was the beginning of my journey in organized medicine,” she told Texas Medicine. “The ability to make a difference in medicine as a student was, and always has been, very rewarding to me. Because of these sections, I developed a belief very early on that it’s a professional responsibility for physicians to be involved in organized medicine.”
In 1976, TMA’s House of Delegates (HOD) voted to create a special section for medical students, first titled the Medical Student Business Section. Following formal changes to TMA bylaws in 1977, the group became the MSS, which allowed medical students to have representation in the HOD. Around the same time, RFS – initially called the Resident Physicians Section – was formalized as well. Since then, the family of TMA sections has grown to six. (See “TMA’s Six Sections,” page 6.)
The medical student and resident and fellow sections help their members navigate challenges unique to their career stages. For example, the MSS cultivates mentorship and shadowing opportunities, while providing information on scholarships and finances; meanwhile, RFS aims to help residents, fellows, and interns successfully enter practice, including by providing resources to help those physicians pass the Texas Medical Jurisprudence exam and get their Texas medical licenses.
The sections are also tasked with shaping TMA policy and action on critical issues in medicine. Members of both groups serve in slotted seats on TMA boards, councils, and committees.
Initially, each section had one delegate to the HOD apiece. As of 2026, 16 MSS chapters are represented in the house by a voting delegate, one for each of Texas’ medical schools. The RFS has the authority to elect one voting delegate for every 1,000 section members to serve in the house. Currently, there are 10 delegates. Both groups also can elect an alternate delegate for each delegate.
Members of the two sections also can hold alternate delegate positions within the AMA. TMA delegation positions are elected through the HOD and require a preliminary interview with the Texas Delegation to the AMA.
TMA delegates for both sections have the opportunity to influence TMA policy through their representation in the HOD because the section as whole, or its individual delegates, can author resolutions for house consideration. Members of both groups may:
• Serve as voting MSS or RFS delegates or alternate delegates;
• Be elected to the designated position on the association’s AMA delegation;
• Be appointed to the designated member position on the TMA Board of Trustees; and
• Serve as special appointees to councils and committees.[Text Wrapping Break]
The sections’ work has led to policy developments championing graduate medical education (GME) funding, for example, and legislative advocacy that has included testimony essential to TMA’s efforts on bills related to Texas’ GME budget, residency slots, and scope of practice.
Since their creation 50 years ago, both sections have evolved into vital arms of the association, influencing policy, amplifying the voices of young students and physicians, and cultivating the next generation of medical leaders. Dr. Bailey calls the last 50 years of the sections “transformative.”
“TMA’s sections provide a framework for young physicians to get involved in organized medicine and TMA, and more and more do every day. It has transformed our association … for the better,” she said.
That transformation is no more visible than across TMA’s state and federal advocacy efforts, says Frisco internist Andrew “Jimmy” Widmer, MD.
During his time as a medical student and then resident member of TMA’s MSS and RFS, Dr. Widmer learned how legislative decisions could shape the future of Texas health care – and saw just how many students and residents were ready to help TMA’s efforts to use that momentum on medicine’s behalf.
“What makes the sections so important is that they educate you about critical issues and policy that impact medicine,” said Dr. Widmer, the Young Physician Section representative to the TMA Board of Trustees. “A lot of [medical students and residents] don’t get dedicated health policy and advocacy education; it’s just not part of the curriculum. These sections serve as an opportunity to achieve a better understanding of how legislation has the potential to impact patient care.”
During his years as a medical student, resident, and now practicing physician, Dr. Widmer has served in nearly every corner of TMA, from the association’s Board of Trustees to TMA’s political arm, TEXPAC, and the association’s Council on Legislation.
Along the way, he’s witnessed what he calls the “next generation of advocates” emerge in real time. For example, 75 MSS members and 37 RFS members currently sit on TMA’s council or committees, groups that serve as the foundation of TMA’s policymaking efforts.
Moreover, during the 2025 Texas legislative session, scope of practice, the physician workforce, and preventive health all came into play, prompting the state’s medical students to join TMA in advocacy – in droves – during a key First Tuesdays at the Capitol advocacy event April 1, 2025 (tma.tips/MedStudentFT).
Medical student participation that day made for a record-setting event, with around 300 in attendance. Participants filled TMA’s Thompson Auditorium and into overflow rooms for the event’s morning briefing before setting off to the Texas Capitol to speak with lawmakers.
Their efforts helped TMA secure victories during the 2025 session to expand Texas’ physician workforce, notably by securing funding for undergraduate and GME loan repayment and rural training programs (tma.tips/WorkforceLege).
Dr. Widmer says days like that spring First Tuesdays remind him why he believes the future of medicine is “in good hands.”
“The gains that we have made in GME funding over the years would not have been accomplished without the involvement of medical students and residents coming to First Tuesdays to talk to their elected officials,” he said.
However, the medical student and resident and fellow sections did not always have the sway they do now. In 1976, TMA records indicate there were just over 350 residents and fellow members and approximately 50 student members. Those numbers were out of 1,600 residents and 2,600 students in the state, respectively.
In 2025, the RFS boasted more than 10,500 residents and fellows. Meanwhile, MSS membership topped 8,500 students.
The current chair of the resident and fellow section, third-year internal medicine resident Kyle Weinstein, MD, believes TMA’s sustainability depends on the engagement of students and residents.
“Both the RFS and MSS really fulfill a strong need for the TMA in terms of future membership,” Dr. Weinstein said. “There’s no TMA in 20 years if we don’t get students, residents and fellows interested. The future of medicine starts here.”
Beyond advocacy, both sections have also been integral in building community. Members have routinely supported and volunteered across TMA’s public health initiatives like Walk with a Doc and Hard Hats for Little Heads, bringing preventive care and education directly to Texans.
MSS chapters often create their own opportunities such as volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and working within the community to help bridge gaps between health care systems and underserved populations.
Additionally, both the MSS and RFS have left a longstanding mark on the culture of TMA conferences and events by developing pathways to encourage young physicians’ attendance. For example, TMA’s annual conference, TexMed, routinely features a Specialty Showcase and Poster Session, both ideas spurred by the two sections (texmed.org/Betterand Better). The association will officially commemorate both sections’ 50th anniversary at this year’s conference.
“TMA has done a very great job of having us involved in these conferences, and has supported our involvement all the way,” Dr. Weinstein said.
Dr. Weinstein says the RFS is in the midst of coordinating TexMed 2026’s resident-led initiatives. Looking ahead, he hopes to continue the section’s momentum – and to use his section experience as he moves forward with his medical career.
“I’d say I can’t believe these sections have been around for 50 years, but when I look at the impact they’ve had within TMA, maybe I can,” he said. “My RFS involvement is something that has had a lasting impact on how I practice and how I think about medicine as a whole.”