When Jennifer Nordhauser, MD, took on the role of editor in chief of the Texas Family Medicine Research Journal, she knew the young publication would only survive if the job could outlast her.
That realization became her Texas Medical Association Leadership College capstone project.
The Pflugerville family medicine physician built a comprehensive PDF and training curriculum to bring new editors up to speed on the journal’s process, rolling it out at the editorial board’s most recent meeting.
“We needed to build a structure that would be sustainable for many years to come for this journal to be viable and self-sustaining,” said Dr. Nordhauser, who chairs TMA’s Young Physician Section and serves as the section’s delegate to the American Medical Association.
She said the journal fills a gap for Texas family medicine research that doesn’t fit the larger national publications or lacks a home elsewhere.
“There is so much research that either does not have a place to be published … or is not quite at the level” the bigger national journals will accept, she said.
Leadership College gave her the tools to identify the “choke points” in the editorial workflow, she said – primarily the back-and-forth between authors, reviewers, and editors – and to think through ways to automate reminders and streamline the process so it doesn’t depend on just two busy family physicians.
Broader takeaways from Leadership College included skills training in organization, delegation, prioritization, and media engagement, she adds – plus a network of classmates she has already tapped for collaborations. With classmate Juan Sosa, MD, she co-led a CME session at TexMed 2026 on how art and creative pursuits can help combat physician burnout.
“If you’ve ever wanted to engage in advocacy and leadership training in your network of physicians around the state of Texas, [Leadership College] is the avenue for you – especially early on in your career,” she said.
For more information on the Leadership College, including the application and selection process, visit its webpage.