Name: Dexter G. Turnquest, MD
Specialty: General Surgery
City: Houston
County Medical Society: Harris CMS
The TMA House of Delegates elected Houston general surgeon Dexter G. Turnquest, MD, to the TMA Board of Trustees in May 2024.
Dr. Turnquest said he is “committed to staunchly defending the rights of physicians to practice in an environment of their choosing, free from the constraints imposed by those who have not undergone medical training.”
The immediate past-chair of TMA’s Council on Constitution and Bylaws also served on the TMA Committee on Emergency Services and Trauma, and as a delegate to the TMA house, throughout his more than 30 years of association membership.
“I vow to be a steadfast advocate for the preservation of our professional autonomy and the safeguarding of our patients’ well-being,” he said in joining the board.
A member of the American Medical Association, Dr. Turnquest has also served on several Harris County Medical Society boards and committees, culminating in his presidency of the society in 2022.
Having spent most of his career as an independent practice physician, Dr. Turnquest understands the challenges physicians face, which he hopes organized medicine can address.
“It is imperative that TMA resist the ongoing efforts to corporatize medicine and curtail physicians' autonomy in making independent judgments for our patients,” he said. “Employers seek to dictate the practice of medicine, bureaucrats align with health plans over patient protection, and legislators attempt to reshape medical practice through political ideologies rather than upholding the Hippocratic Oath to which [physicians] all pledged.”
Dr. Turnquest is certified by the American Board of Surgery and holds a fellowship from the American College of Surgeons, and diplomacy in the American Board of Obesity Medicine. He maintains staff appointments across multiple hospitals in Houston, The Woodlands, and Conroe. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct clinical assistant professor at Texas A&M University School of Medicine.