Stories from Texas Medicine, April 2022

Amplified by AMA: Participation in AMA Can Improve Texas Medicine - 01/11/2023

The Texas Medical Association's impact on the national stage hinges in part on the activism of roughly three dozen TMA members who serve as representatives to the American Medical Association House of Delegates, the principal policymaking body of AMA.

Voice of Reason: TMA’s Board of Councilors Tackles Ethical Policymaking - 06/08/2022

Established in 1903, the Board of Councilors renders and updates opinions on matters of medical ethics, from abortion and medical use of cannabis to physician-assisted suicide and restrictive covenants, among other responsibilities.

A New Day: Incoming TMA Alliance President Aims to Expand Group’s Reach and Appeal - 05/20/2022

Lubbock's Libby White discuses her plans as incoming president of the Texas Medical Association Alliance, TMA’s massive volunteer force.

Peaks From the Valley: E. Linda Villarreal, MD, Reflects on Her TMA Presidency - 05/20/2022

Edinburg internist E. Linda Villarreal, MD, says her term as Texas Medical Association President focused on innovation, collaboration, and conversation.

Natural-Born Healer: Incoming TMA President Gary Floyd, MD, Cares for His Profession - 05/20/2022

Throughout his 43-year career, Fort Worth pediatrician Gary Floyd, MD, has been an active participant in organized medicine; soon, he'll ascend his biggest platform yet as the Texas Medical Association's 157th president.

Talk to Patients About: Should I Get Vaccinated if I’ve Had COVID-19? - 05/01/2022

There is a lot of misinformation about vaccines, so each month Texas Medicine highlights common concerns that patients raise about immunizations. This material is designed to help you talk to your patients and help them understand the benefits of vaccines. Find

De-Emphasizing Devices: How to Help Patients Combat Phone Addiction - 05/01/2022

When Dallas adolescent medicine specialist M. Brett Cooper, MD, talks to his young patients in the exam room, most pay attention. But some kids find their smartphones so irresistible that Dr. Cooper is just an afterthought.

Legal Legacies: TMA General Counsel Rocky Wilcox Retires After 42 Years of Service - 05/01/2022

After nearly five decades of service to organized medicine, Rocky Wilcox, the man behind TMA’s storied history of advocating for physicians and their patients through the legal and legislative systems is retiring. But the legacy he leaves behind has put physicians in Texas – even across the nation – on solid legal ground.

Leaders in the News: TMA Physicians Maximize Media Appearances - 05/01/2022

Since the pandemic began more than two years ago, TMA has deployed go-to people in media outlets across not just the state but also the nation and even the world. TMA’s trusted distillation of important information on public health measures, vaccines, and testing has raised physician leaders’ profiles, and invited both positive attention from believers in medicine and negative attention from anti-science forces.