Stories written by Jessica Ridge

Apply for Local Impact Grants to Provide Free Immunizations in Your Community - 05/15/2025

Applications are open for TMA Foundation grants of up to $3,500 to support vaccine provision and education. The deadline to apply for the current cycle of grants is May 23, and the funds can be put to use in a variety of ways to serve your community.  

Alliance President Joi Smith Seeks to Connect and Support Families, Communities - 05/14/2025

The torch of TMAA leadership was passed at TexMed. New president Joi Smith of Tyler is ready to continue the alliance’s work as outlined by its new mission, vision, and strategic plan to build a healthy Texas through community outreach and advocacy.

‘We’ve Got a Long Way to Go’: Physician Burnout Persists Amid Modest Reduction - 05/05/2025

Burnout is down and satisfaction with work-life integration is up, a Mayo Clinic study reveals. But the practice of medicine remains fraught as physicians incur a heavy mental load to continue heeding what is for many a calling.

Delivering Collaboration: Can Birthing Centers Help Ease Texas’ Maternal Deserts? - 05/05/2025

G. Sealy Massingill, MD, knows well the wildly unpredictable nature of birth. The consultant on TMA’s Committee on Reproductive, Women’s, and Perinatal Health has attended the deliveries of thousands of infants and wouldn’t dare to presume that any apparently healthy patient labors unencumbered by risk.

Dedication to Dance Enables Arathi Shah, MD, to Have Elusive Equilibrium - 05/04/2025

As Arathi Shah, MD, was finishing medical school in western India, a second crucible in the guise of a graduation ceremony awaited her. It also entailed yearslong preparation, rigorous training, and time with friends cut short.  

Wastewater Testing Advances Improve Physician and Public Readiness for Outbreaks - 05/04/2025

Houston is home to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Wastewater Surveillance System of Excellence.

TMA Health Beat Broadens Its Audience to Advocate More Effectively for Physicians - 05/04/2025

Louise Bethea, MD, sometimes encounters resistance in persuading her patients with asthma to adhere to their daily medication regimen. It’s a problem she attributes, in part, to low health care literacy.

‘Who Writes the Rules Matters’: Medical Students Converge on Capitol to Educate and Advocate - 04/24/2025

As First Tuesdays continues its run in the second half of session, physicians and medical students bring their thoughts, stories, and concerns to lawmakers to shed light on TMA priorities, including scope of practice and physician workforce measures.

Record Licensure Numbers Show Steady Workforce Progress - 04/23/2025

Texas continues to expand the physician workforce at a faster rate than the state’s population, continuing a 15-year streak, but gaps remain. To drive in-state growth, TMA continues to advocate for bolstering the state’s residency and fellowship programs.

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Enhance Medicaid Payments and Coverage - 04/17/2025

TMA will work to enhance Medicaid payments and coverage this legislative session

Vaccine Uptake Improves Amid Measles Momentum - 04/11/2025

With measles spreading to another corner of the state and showing little sign of slowing, adjusted vaccine recommendations apply to residents of and visitors to 10 affected counties. TMA Foundation grants are available to support vaccine clinics.

U.S. Main Residency Match Reveals New and Growing Specialty Interests - 04/07/2025

This year’s match results show growth in osteopathy, a rebound in emergency medicine and pediatrics, and obstetrics holding steady.

‘An Honor and a Tremendous Relief’: Scholarship Furthers Medical Careers - 03/26/2025

Sixteen Houston area medical students received awards from the Harris County Medical Society Alliance Scholarship Fund to buffer the costs of medical school. The scholarships help defray debt and soften the edges of expenses that pile up in the second half of medical school.

Earn CME and Hear Practical Measles Guidance as Outbreak Expands - 03/21/2025

As the West Texas outbreak shows little sign of slowing, TMA and DSHS present an update and strategies for combating measles in a CME-qualifying webinar.

New TMA Scholarship Inspires Inaugural North Texas Recipient to Think Globally - 03/12/2025

The North Texas Specialty Physicians Scholarship awards $40,000, disbursed over four years, to chosen medical students who previously or currently reside in Johnson, Parker, and Tarrant counties. Yousuf Din, the 2024 recipient and first to receive the scholarship, seeks to serve his community with the breathing room the award creates.

TMA Grants Build Community Connections for Underserved Patients - 03/11/2025

Physicians have until Feb. 7 to apply for the first of three rounds of $3,500 Vaccines Defend What Matters local impact grants funded by the TMA Foundation. Grantees can use the funds to vaccinate underserved and uninsured populations and toward outreach initiatives that address vaccine hesitancy.  

Confidential Physician Counseling Now Free Thanks to TMAIT - 03/10/2025

Anticipate Joy provides a deep well of support for physicians and their families for free, courtesy of a grant from TMA Insurance Trust (TMAIT). TMA encourages members to avail themselves of the counseling services, which ensure privacy and impose no limit on individual sessions with therapists.

‘This Day Is Huge’: Medicine Doubles Down on Health Care Access Advocacy on First Tuesday - 03/06/2025

TMA’s signature advocacy event, founded by the TMA Alliance, continues to connect physicians, medical students, and the alliance with lawmakers to shepherd the association’s legislative priorities to fruition.

TMAA President-Elect Joi Smith Calls Medicine’s Volunteer Force to Action with a Dose of Positivity - 02/27/2025

TMA Alliance President-Elect Joi Smith calls medicine’s volunteer force to action with a dose of positivity.

Doctor’s Orders to ‘Eat Healthy’ Bolstered by Updated FDA Metrics - 01/23/2025

The Food and Drug Administration’s new approach to deeming foods healthy affirms nutrition science and longstanding TMA policy. While serious obstacles to healthful eating remain, the new guidelines may provide a way to discuss dietary principles like portion sizes and balanced eating with patients.

Teens Vulnerable to Social Media Harm, Exploitation, TMA Tells Legislators - 01/14/2025

 TMA presented data on how unfettered access to social media imperils youth. Medicine proposes new protections to safeguard kids as they navigate a digital terrain rife with the risk of manipulation and exploitation.    

Enhancing Awareness: Physicians Can Help Dispel Myths to Ease the Syphilis Epidemic - 01/08/2025

Physicians can help dispel myths to ease the syphilis epidemic in Texas.

I Never Knew TMA: Had Leadership Development Opportunities - 01/07/2025

TMA Leadership Development programming is designed to help build leadership skills, enhance your résumé, boost your career, and help you gain an understanding of how one can make a positive impact in your profession, your association, and your community.

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Improve Women’s Health and Clarify Abortion Exceptions - 01/06/2025

The Texas Medical Association made big strides last session, securing a hard-won waiver extending Medicaid postpartum coverage to one year and expanding access to other women’s health care through the Healthy Texas Women (HTW) and Family Planning Program, for instance.

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Protect Immunizations to Protect Public Health - 01/06/2025

TMA will work to safeguard immunizations this legislative session.