When Beaumont neurosurgeon Mark Kubala, MD, got his start in medicine – he attended medical school in the mid-1950s – computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) hadn’t yet been invented.
The Texas Medical Association House of Delegates meeting was one big smoking section. And the health care industry looked very different than it does today, with rampant consolidation and the advent of prior authorization hassles still decades away.
Since then, a lot has changed. But Dr. Kubala’s commitment to his profession and to organized medicine has remained steadfast.
“I’ve always felt that we need to make medicine available for all that need it, and I felt that, through structured organizations, we can make it economically feasible for physicians to practice and make decisions based on the patient’s best interest, and not on economics,” the past TMA president told Texas Medicine.
Over his 60-plus years in practice, Dr. Kubala has helped TMA, the American Medical Association, and various specialty societies preserve physician autonomy and improve the health of all Texans – and beyond. (See “Leadership Experience,” page 40.)
His contributions include campaigning for the creation of the Texas Medical Liability Trust in response to a mass exodus of medical liability insurance providers during the 1970s. Founded by TMA in 1979, the trust filled the resulting vacuum and continues to provide physician policyholders with medical liability insurance in the post-tort reform era. (See “Changing History,” page 24.)
Dr. Kubala also is a longtime champion of public health initiatives. As the inaugural president of the TMA Foundation (TMAF), he oversaw the campaign that raised funds for TMA’s newly launched Hard Hats for Little Heads bicycle giveaway program in 1994. (He later served a second term as TMAF president.) Since then, the program has provided nearly 400,000 helmets free of charge to Texas children. He also was instrumental in founding the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation, a joint venture of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, on whose board he served. ThinkFirst is dedicated to preventing brain and spinal cord injuries through education.
“My feeling is that doctors individually are respected, but sometimes as a group we are not as well thought of,” he said. “When we do public health initiatives, [that’s when] the benevolence of physicians can be seen.”
TMAF recently recognized Dr. Kubala with its Heart of Gold Award during TexMed in Dallas on May 2-4. Dr. Kubala has supported the foundation for 34 years, from drafting its bylaws and inspiring fundraising activities to serving in leadership roles and volunteering on behalf of TMAF-funded community outreach programs.
Today, Dr. Kubala stays busy, still working in surgery twice a week and mentoring his younger colleagues, including TMA President Ray Callas, MD, an anesthesiologist in Beaumont whom Dr. Kubala calls “a dear friend.” They often work together on surgeries and are the only two TMA presidents to hail from Southeast Texas. (See “Straight Shooter,” April 2024 Texas Medicine, page 20-25.)
Dr. Callas also sings Dr. Kubala’s praises, calling him a fount of institutional knowledge. Dr. Kubala is similarly quick to espouse Dr. Callas’ “innate leadership abilities” – and the necessity of the “old guard” making room for future generations.
“The future is in the youth,” Dr. Kubala said. “We have a great organization [in TMA], but it needs new ideas constantly.”
Throughout his twin careers as a neurosurgeon and an advocate, Dr. Kubala has been guided by a servant leadership ethos, doing what’s best for his family, his patients, and his profession.
He grew up in East Bernard and is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. After completing his residency at Baylor College of Medicine and a fellowship at Mayo Clinic, he served in the U.S. Air Force Department of Neurosurgery at Wilford Hall Hospital at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
By 1966, he had opened his private practice in Beaumont, where his late wife spent part of her childhood and where much of her family lived. He went on to serve as chief of surgery at all three local hospitals, primarily operating at CHRISTUS Southeast Texas.
“I decided I can practice and do what I want to do well in many areas, but it’s very important that my family be happy,” he said. “It turned out to be a great decision.”
Along the way, Dr. Kubala had a front-row seat for many advancements in medicine.
Early in his career, he relied on physical exams and his physiology training. But he also was an early adopter of new imaging techniques, including CT and MRI. For example, when he suspected a patient had a brain tumor undetectable by the studies available in 1973, he leaned on his fellowship connections at Mayo Clinic, the first U.S. hospital to install a CT scanner. He secured his patient an appointment in Rochester, Minn., which – after a series of pictures that took three minutes each to develop – confirmed his suspicions. The patient then returned to Beaumont, where Dr. Kubala successfully treated the tumor.
Through his involvement with TMA and various specialty societies, Dr. Kubala also witnessed the development of vaccines and groundbreaking research on communicable diseases and cardiovascular disease.
“In all branches of medicine, there’s been tremendous progress,” he said. “The challenge is getting it delivered to patients.”
Thanks in part to Dr. Kubala’s leadership, TMA and others in organized medicine have helped to meet this challenge, whether responding to the medical liability insurance crisis or public health scourges, like preventable brain injuries in children.
But Dr. Kubala deflects credit, attributing TMA’s successes to its physician members working together to achieve their goals.
“We had an army without generals,” he said.
Dr. Kubala hopes to encourage this teamwork in generations to come. He has fulfilled all but two of his TMA leadership role terms, making room for new leaders.
“It’s a big tent, and there’s room for everybody,” he said. “Nothing pleases me more than seeing the bright young people that we have in the [TMA] House of Delegates.”
Still, Dr. Kubala’s influence continues through his mentorship of current leaders like Dr. Callas and his service as a member of TMA’s History of Medicine Committee and of the TMAF Advisory Council. (See “Making the Past Present,” page 12.)
The committee’s latest installation – “Greatest Hits from the History of Medicine Gallery & Archives”– showcased artifacts from the association’s archival collection, including an iron lung used for artificial respiration in polio patients. Past exhibits, including “Women in Texas Medicine” and “Courage and Determination,” are reinvigorated in banner form to travel across the state (www.texmed.org/history).
Dr. Kubala hopes the committee’s work helps educate physicians about their profession and the public about medicine’s many accomplishments.
“History repeats itself,” he said. “So, if we don’t explain how we got to where we are, we’re going to make [the same] mistakes.”
In these ways and more, Dr. Kubala remains a staunch advocate for physicians and the patients they serve.
“I’m just so lucky to be able to have a good life taking care of people, helping them in times of need,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I’ve been involved in medical associations – to keep the profession of medicine alive to those that have the calling.”
Emma Freer
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1383