Committing to help expand the state’s physician workforce and fix rural deficits, the Texas Medical Association’s House of Delegates adopted a host of remedies through new policies at TexMed 2025 in San Antonio May 10.
According to a November 2024 report from the Texas A&M Rural and Community Health Institute, 47% of Texas counties are classified as “maternal care deserts,” with a concentration in the western half of the state.
“There are serious concerns about the ability of our state’s obstetrician-gynecologists to meet the growing need for obstetrical care in the state,” TMA Physician Distribution and Health Care Access Committee Chair Stephen Whitney, MD, said in online testimony.
In response, TMA’s new policy supports targeted state funding for physician training in family medicine and obstetrics to expand access to obstetrical services in Texas, especially in rural areas where family physicians are the largest medical specialty.
As the state continues to fall behind the national totals for the ratio of pediatric subspecialists per 100,000 children, the House also voted to support expansion of the Statewide Primary Care Preceptorship program to include pediatric subspecialists.
Other policies the House adopted to address workforce shortages:
- Support stable state funding for and expansion of the state’s Federally Qualified Health Center Incubator Grant Program – a state-level initiative focused on expanding health care access in underserved communities across Texas – and expand it to include funding for rural health clinics.
- Ensure all Texas physicians meet the same licensing standards.
Regarding medical education, because national accrediting bodies for medical schools place the responsibility for curriculum development with each school’s curriculum committee and residency program leadership, the House of Delegates voted to oppose curriculum mandates from the Texas Legislature and other entities beyond the national accrediting bodies for medical education and postgraduate training in Texas.
“Allowing external mandates to influence curricula could significantly extend the length of medical school and potentially require additional time in postgraduate training,” the new policy asserts.
Delegates did, on the other hand, vote in support of innovative methods to assist unmatched Texas medical school students in finding a match in the state, such as a state grant program for one-year transitional residency positions reserved for unmatched Texas medical students.
Check out how TMA’s workforce policies dovetail with some of medicine’s legislative goals this session. And learn about shaping future TMA policies and becoming a House of Delegates member.