“A lot of physicians are waking up to the idea that it’s really important that we be at the table because every day decisions are made in Washington and Austin that affect medical practice.”
practicing medicine are unsettled at best, and many physicians have decided that they prefer to quit griping and get up and do something about it.
“That something is fighting to enter public service to ensure their patients’ and physician colleagues’ viewpoints are heard at the negotiating tables in Wash- ington and Austin,” he said. “I commend them.” “A lot of physicians are waking up to the idea that it’s really important that we be at the table because every day decisions are made in Washington and Austin that affect medical practice,” Rep- resentative Shelton added.
Susan Todd is running for the House District 97 seat being vacated by Rep. Mark Shelton, MD (R-Fort Worth), who is running for Senate District 10. She says the large number of candidates from organized medicine “may be the dividends that are paying off” from those efforts.
Alliance member Sonal Bhuchar, who is running for the House District 26 seat in the Houston area, says she learned legislative advocacy “through the alli- ance when we first helped work at the very grassroots level on tort reform in 2003 in Fort Bend County. And I learned more about legislative advocacy through
the alliance when we first started First Tuesdays at the Capitol.” The highly effective First Tuesdays
program, co-conducted by the TMA Al- liance and TEXPAC, has seen thousands of physicians, medical students, and alli- ance members swarm the Texas Capitol on the first Tuesday of every month dur- ing legislative sessions to lobby lawmak- ers on behalf of medicine’s issues. A final factor in the decision of many
in the medical community to seek public office may be the passage of the Afford- able Care Act and other issues debated in both Washington, D.C., and Austin. Dr. Todd says future prospects of
Seizing the opportunity Representative Shelton says his decision to run for the Senate District 10 seat af- ter two terms in the House was “an op- portunity of redistricting.” “With the redistricting process, the doors just opened because of what I’ve done in the House and also because of the location of my current House dis- trict,” he said. Ms. Todd, a former TMA Alliance and American Medical Association Alliance president, says she was strongly encour- aged to seek the House District 97 seat after Representative Shelton announced he would run for the Senate. She sees the race as an opportunity to build on her TMA Alliance legislative advocacy efforts.
Rep. Michael Burgess, MD
Rep. Mark Shelton, MD
36 TEXAS MEDICINE March 2012
Rep. Charles Schwertner, MD
Sen. Bob Deuell, MD
“I’ve been involved in advocacy for a good many years, and I’ve learned the valuable lesson that being involved does make a difference,” she said. “And I think legislative advocacy is one of the most important tools we have as citizens to help structure laws of Texas. It’s a good thing when you get involved and you do see that it makes a difference.” She never expected to run for office, “but the right opportunity came up at the right time in my life.” Dr. Bonnen, brother of state Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton), also has a long history of political involvement through TMA and TEXPAC. He first con- sidered running for the House while in medical school but put off his political ambitions while establishing his medical practice and raising a family.
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