If you’re familiar with Jayesh “Jay” Shah, MD, who served as the Texas Medical Association president for the 2025-26 term, you’re likely familiar with the phrase, “Let doctors be doctors.”
During his presidency, Dr. Shah’s longtime motto was his impassioned call to advocacy against the burdensome prior authorization process and other administrative red tape impeding physicians from delivering the care their patients deserve.
He also encouraged physicians to become the healthiest, best versions of themselves. Melding these two themes together became the impetus for his podcast, Let Doctors Be Doctors, that allows physicians to tell their personal stories (texmed.org/LetDoctorsBeDoctors).
“Since starting my private practice in 1997, I’ve been actively involved in organized medicine in one capacity or another,” he told Texas Medicine. “Through conversations with physicians across the state, I’ve come to realize we haven’t consistently created a space where physicians can speak openly and honestly for themselves.”
In the process, the podcast allowed physicians to let their colleagues know they’re not alone in dealing with an array of forces that can lead to burnout or even “moral injury.”
Dr. Shah’s podcast episodes were widely shared, engaging 25 physicians in frank, open conversations about the rewards and challenges of caring for patients while maintaining a focus on their own wellness.
The stories capturing the rich diversity of specialties, perspectives, and experiences included one Dr. Shah found especially moving from Lenore DePagter, DO, a member of TMA’s original Leadership College in 2011, who shared her account of raising a son with autism. Other reflections on parenthood included that from Austin internist, hospitalist physician, and graphic novelist Grace Farris, MD, and from Marble Falls ophthalmologist Kelly Green, MD, interspersed among narratives about staving off burnout, be it by effectively tackling the administrative burden of paperwork or the importance of asking for help when grappling with mental health issues.
He described the podcast as “a good medium” for physicians to discuss their personal journeys – and more.
“This platform is not about just talking about the stories … it’s figuring out what will be the best solutions for some of the things we are struggling with in health care.”
Dr. Shah personally found uplift in the individual narratives he was showcasing. One lesson he took from the podcast: The physician you are today doesn’t have to be the physician you are tomorrow.
“A lot of people who got [burnt] out changed their trajectory,” he said. “For a lot of physicians, if you feel stuck, there are many other ways to continue to be a doctor.”
The series also drove home the importance of TMA’s advocacy work.
“A lot of physicians are going through burnout and moral injury … because the way the health care has changed for them to take care of patients,” he said.
“We tell them it’s not your personal failing, but it’s a system-level problem,” he added. “That’s why we need them to get involved in advocacy, because we have to change the health care from the bottom up.”
Dr. Shah was sworn in during the tail end of the 2025 Texas Legislature’s regular session, in which he successfully testified, as president-elect, to fight harmful scope bills. The first part of his term was defined in large part by a remarkable grassroots effort bringing more than 2,000 physicians together in a letter-writing campaign with an equally remarkable result: Gov. Greg Abbott’s veto of a bill that could have undermined the Texas Medical Board and adversely impacted medicine’s efforts to preserve physician-led care (texmed.org/SB268Veto).
“This is a powerful reminder when we stand together, we can protect patient care and preserve physician autonomy,” Dr. Shah pronounced upon the victory through veto on June 22, 2025.
Nearly a year after that example of TMA’s power in numbers, he also sees it as a testament to staying resilient.
“That just gives you hope in our advocacy, that you can fight to the end for our patients,” he said. “You can’t give up. When you’re fighting for the right reasons, you will win, but sometimes you might go through some tribulations.”
When Dr. Shah was preparing to take office, he pledged to focus on “making sure physicians are respected as physicians,” and “to elevate the profession.”
He also knew travel would be an important element of his work. He ventured out from his San Antonio home base throughout the year, making sure to place rural destinations on his calendar, including the inaugural Local Medicine Matters conferences in Tyler and Abilene.
“That’s been a big change for TMA, for us to go where our members are and really look at those issues,” he said of Local Medicine Matters.
“I got to travel to almost all rural counties where they had meetings,” he said. “Even when they had a small group, I really wanted to go and thank them for their membership with TMA.”
He was particularly impressed with how rural doctors are meeting challenges head on.
“They were passionate, they were resilient, and they were committed,” he said. “I did hear they are having a lot of increasing administrative burden that interferes with patient care, and I wanted to amplify their voices,” he added, citing TMA advocacy for establishing a pipeline to develop the rural workforce, as well as working on behalf of rural physicians concerned with access to care for neonatal intensive care and nephrology patients.
“When I go, they tell me their issues, I bring them back to TMA, and then we work on resolutions right away,” he said. “That’s a great advantage of traveling everywhere.”
Dr. Shah envisions himself continuing in organized medicine even after he completes his year as past president, starting with making First Tuesdays at the Capitol part of his odd-year routine. And, as you might expect, he’ll be guided by the four words that have accompanied him for years.
“‘Let doctors be doctors’ is not a slogan to me; it’s a responsibility,” he said, adding those four words encapsulated what he sought to accomplish during his term.
“I was surprised when one of the legislators used it in a speech, [saying] we want doctors to be doctors,” he said. “It’s doing the work that it’s supposed to do.”
Phil West
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1394
phil.west[at]texmed[dot]org
Phil West is a writer and editor whose publications include the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Austin American-Statesman, and San Antonio Express-News. He earned a BA in journalism from the University of Washington and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin’s James A. Michener Center for Writers. He lives in Austin with his wife, children, and a trio of free-spirited dogs.