GRANTS TO TMA
TMA’s Be Wise — Immunize (BWI): BWI is a public health initiative that promotes the importance, safety and effectiveness of vaccinations. The program combines education for physicians and patients with hands-on vaccination clinics (sponsored by physicians, TMA Alliance members, and medical students) to increase Texas’ vaccination rates. Since its beginning in 2004, Be Wise -- Immunize has provided nearly 340,000 vaccinations to Texas children, adolescents and adults. The program supports TMA and TMA Alliance (TMAA) members with grants to fund local shot clinics aimed at Texas’ underserved and uninsured populations.
TMA’s Hard Hats for Little Heads (HHLH): HHLH encourages exercise and fitness and helps prevent life-altering or fatal brain injuries in Texas children. Since the program’s inception in 1994, more than 285,000 free helmets have been given to youths aged 14 and younger at community events such as bicycle safety rodeos and health fairs. TMA and TMAA members educate parents and their children about the importance of wearing a properly fitted helmet when bicycling, inline skating, skateboarding or riding a scooter.
TMA’s Ernest and Sarah Butler Awards for Excellence in Science Teaching: TMA is committed to elevating the importance of science in our modern society by recognizing and rewarding outstanding science teachers in elementary and junior and senior high schools. Since 1990, TMA has helped increase science literacy by providing cash awards to winning teachers and their schools to enhance their science curriculum.
TMA’s Diversity in Medicine Scholarship Program (MSP): Established in 1998, TMA’s MSP was designed as a unique means to fill a gap brought about by the Hopwood ruling barring public medical schools from offering minority-specific scholarships. In Texas, minority groups underrepresented with regard to population-to-physician ratios are Hispanic, African-American, and Native American. Annually, a qualified student entering each of Texas’ medical schools is selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship.
NEW! TMA’s HPV Social Media Campaign: To support the public education component of TMA’s HPV Working Group, TMA’s Council on Health Promotion, along with TMA’s Be Wise — Immunize, developed a social media campaign to increase awareness among parents and older teens/young adults of the importance of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to prevent cancer. The social media campaign will run in Tyler and San Angelo, college towns with worse-than-average HPV vaccination rates, targeting 17- to 22-year-olds in those markets to urge them to get vaccinated.
Walk With a Doc Texas (WWAD): WWAD engages physicians and their patients in healthy physical activity to reverse the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, especially obesity. Thirty-five TMA physician members have established walks that engage patients in walking with them at least once a month for 12 months. Participants enjoy healthy food and lifestyle education through brief presentations before each walk, conversation with the physician and take-home educational hand-outs.
University of Health Forum: The University of Health is a public health forum held four times a year to discuss Texas’ role in public health and safety and the economic impact of public health issues. Sessions focus on public health infrastructure, immunizations, obesity, tobacco use cancer control and related topics. Legislative members and their staff are the target audience for these University of Health public forums.
NEW! History of Medicine Banner Program: This program will enable TMA’s History of Medicine Committee to offer the seven educational banner sets to schools and libraries to enhance the image of the physician and encourage the pursuit of research and science education. The banners are an invaluable means of promoting TMA goals of patient health advocacy by way of education and historical content.
Texas Two Step: This initiative by the Texas College of Emergency Physicians and HealthCorps provided skills training to community participants, instructing how to act quickly in the event of cardiac emergencies following two easy steps: 1) Call 911 and 2) Initiate hands-only CPR. The program expanded in 2018 to replicate the event on a national level. The project has trained more than 20,000 Texans on how to save lives with hands-only CPR.
GRANTS TO COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETIES AND ALLIANCE CHAPTERS
Drive Thru, Prevent Flu/Lamar Delta County Medical Society. The Paris-Lamar County Health District is partnering with the Lamar-Delta County Medical Society and other community groups to provide an efficient method for residents to receive the influenza vaccine. The “drive-thru” shot clinic will reach 400 citizens, age 18 or older. The easy-access option will be a particular asset to both the elderly and to a vast majority of the rural community who find it difficult to visit a regular, walk-in clinic.
Project Access Tarrant County/Tarrant County Medical Society. Project Access Tarrant County (PATC) is a community collaboration that provides compassionate specialty care for Tarrant County’s uninsured. A network of volunteer physicians (TMA members), partnering hospitals, donating ancillary services, charitable community clinics, and other providers serve the target population of the uninsured working poor. To date, PATC has served more than 1,000 patients and provided more than $9.5 million worth of donated care that this population would otherwise be unable to access.
NEW! Lubbock Anti-Sex Trafficking Project/Lubbock County Medical Society. This project raises awareness about the problem of human sex trafficking of minors in Texas. Lubbock County Medical Society is collaborating with several local organizations to facilitate a unified call to action to make Lubbock and West Texas a safe haven for children and a user-unfriendly town for buyers and sellers of children for sex trafficking.
Immunization Collaboration of Tarrant County/Tarrant County Medical Society Alliance Foundation. This program will 1. Low cost vaccine events help eligible children and adults receive required vaccines for kindergarten, 7th grade and college school registrations. Over 7000 eligible children and adults are served. 2. Vaccine education for parents, community, health care workers and providers is on-going and growing through website and social media channels so that ICTC becomes a go-to source for information about the importance and safety of immunizations.
NEW! Power for Parkinson’s/Travis County Medical Society. Power for Parkinson's provides free Parkinson’s group fitness and dance classes, singing groups and social activities for people with Parkinson's and their care partners in Austin and surrounding communities. The program mission is to engage people with Parkinson’s in regular exercise to slow or even reverse the symptoms of Parkinson's, improve overall sense of well-being, and to provide opportunities for socialization to help prevent depression and isolation that often accompanies the disease.
GRANTS TO TMA MEDICAL STUDENT CHAPTERS
Alliance Refugee Wellness Fair/Baylor College of Medicine. This annual event addresses healthcare disparities in the underserved refugee population that has resettled in Harris County by providing direct medical and preventative health services, education about health and wellbeing, and resources for greater access to medical care. In partnership with several non-profit refugee resettlement agencies in the area, this initiative will provide refugees with culturally competent resources to navigate the Harris Health System.
Aggie Health Project: Hepatitis C/Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. In conjunction with Martha’s Clinic, Texas A&M’s student-run free clinic, this initiative aims to extend current health maintenance screenings to include Hepatitis C and, when applicable, appropriate referral to community partners for the homeless and indigent of Temple, Texas and Bell County. The addition of this screening addresses a disparity in available preventative services, creating opportunities for care and cure.
HOPE Health Fair /University of Texas Medical Branch. This collaborative event will provide vaccines, health screenings, and a meal to homeless and uninsured individuals living in Galveston, Texas. The UTMB TMA, Family Medicine Interest Group and Gold Humanism Honor Society will work together with St. Vincent’s Student Run Clinic to host the second annual HOPE (Helping Others Through Partnered Empowerment) Health Fair. Last year, over 200 vaccines were provided to this community, and this year we hope to serve at least 250 individuals through this campaign.
Frontera de Salud/McGovern Medical School TMS Medical Student Section. Frontera de Salud is a student-based community health project that addresses health disparities and promotes healthy living on the Texas-Mexico border. The program provides an opportunity for medical and public health students to practice skills and apply knowledge toward meeting the health needs of the community. The program partners with the UTHealth School of Public Health and Cameron County Health Department to provide quarterly health screenings, home visits and community assessments.