Of just 25 spots available for its newest leadership training program, the Physicians Foundation’s Leadership Institute at Brandeis University has filled six with Texas physicians eager to develop and sharpen leadership skills necessary to influence state and federal health care policy.
Among them, Texas Medical Association Board Trustee Bradford Patt, MD, said come September, he is ready to represent Texas and TMA at “the next level of education, leadership, and health care policy.”
“Physicians have always been leaders of [medical] policymaking, but we’re losing that hold,” the Houston facial plastic surgeon said. “One of the best [ways] to shape health care policy going forward is to put doctors at the table – especially those from TMA, the voice for physicians.”
Through management, advocacy, and leadership training, the new program will utilize in-person and online learning formats to train physicians on how to address pressing topics in medicine, like nonmedical drivers of health, physician well-being, and population health.
“Policy that has not utilized the experience and perspective of practicing physicians can have unintended, negative consequences for the country,” Physicians Foundation CEO Robert Seligson said. “This training program is … centered on how to provide [physician] input to policy makers to avoid such instances.”
After the COVID-19 pandemic “opened her eyes” to the importance of physician leadership, Nefertiti duPont, MD, a member of TMA’s Council on Socioeconomics, said she knew the course would be a perfect fit for her advocacy goals. She applied and was accepted to the program after reading a call for applicants in TMA’s daily newsletter, Texas Medicine Today.
“How do we reduce burnout? How do we better prepare for future pandemics? I believe … by being better leaders,” the Shenandoah gynecologic oncologist said. “Physician leadership is essential at all levels. This opportunity will teach us not only how to become those leaders, but also how to … bring [what we learn] to Texas to make us stronger.”
Other TMA members of the inaugural class include:
- Lubbock internist Cynthia Jumper, MD, TMA Board of Trustees Vice Chair;
- San Antonio and Irving anesthesiologist Joseph Hendrix, MD, member of the TMA Council on Constitution and Bylaws; and
- Harlingen family medicine physician Sheila Magoon, MD, member of TMA’s Committee on Medicaid, CHIP, and the Uninsured.
The 12-month program, which will utilize training from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, will run from September 2025 to September 2026. Mr. Seligson says the Physicians Foundation is considering running the program in the future.
Training will include:
- Two in-person, five-day residencies at Brandeis University;
- Virtual monthly instructional sessions on Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm between November 2025 and March 2026, and again between April 2026 and August 2026; and
- Virtual monthly peer coaching checkpoints.
For more information about the program or the Physicians Foundation, visit the Physicians Foundation’s website. For other TMA leadership opportunities, visit TMA’s dedicated webpage.
Alisa Pierce
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1469