Stories written by Jessica Ridge

‘An Honor and a Tremendous Relief’: Scholarship Furthers Medical Careers - 03/26/2025

Sixteen Houston area medical students received awards from the Harris County Medical Society Alliance Scholarship Fund to buffer the costs of medical school. The scholarships help defray debt and soften the edges of expenses that pile up in the second half of medical school.

Earn CME and Hear Practical Measles Guidance as Outbreak Expands - 03/21/2025

As the West Texas outbreak shows little sign of slowing, TMA and DSHS present an update and strategies for combating measles in a CME-qualifying webinar.

New TMA Scholarship Inspires Inaugural North Texas Recipient to Think Globally - 03/12/2025

The North Texas Specialty Physicians Scholarship awards $40,000, disbursed over four years, to chosen medical students who previously or currently reside in Johnson, Parker, and Tarrant counties. Yousuf Din, the 2024 recipient and first to receive the scholarship, seeks to serve his community with the breathing room the award creates.

Hear a Statewide Measles Update with DSHS, Earn CME - 03/11/2025

As measles continues to afflict the state, physicians can learn the latest on the outbreak and earn CME by tuning into a webinar with the Texas Department of State Health Services Monday, March 17, at 5:30 CT.

TMA Grants Build Community Connections for Underserved Patients - 03/11/2025

Physicians have until Feb. 7 to apply for the first of three rounds of $3,500 Vaccines Defend What Matters local impact grants funded by the TMA Foundation. Grantees can use the funds to vaccinate underserved and uninsured populations and toward outreach initiatives that address vaccine hesitancy.  

Confidential Physician Counseling Now Free Thanks to TMAIT - 03/10/2025

Anticipate Joy provides a deep well of support for physicians and their families for free, courtesy of a grant from TMA Insurance Trust (TMAIT). TMA encourages members to avail themselves of the counseling services, which ensure privacy and impose no limit on individual sessions with therapists.

‘This Day Is Huge’: Medicine Doubles Down on Health Care Access Advocacy on First Tuesday - 03/06/2025

TMA’s signature advocacy event, founded by the TMA Alliance, continues to connect physicians, medical students, and the alliance with lawmakers to shepherd the association’s legislative priorities to fruition.

Can birthing centers help ease Texas’ maternal deserts? - 02/27/2025

G. Sealy Massingill, MD, knows well the wildly unpredictable nature of birth. The consultant on TMA’s Committee on Reproductive, Women’s, and Perinatal Health has attended the deliveries of thousands of infants and wouldn’t dare to presume that any apparently healthy patient labors unencumbered by risk.

TMAA President-Elect Joi Smith Calls Medicine’s Volunteer Force to Action with a Dose of Positivity - 02/27/2025

TMA Alliance President-Elect Joi Smith calls medicine’s volunteer force to action with a dose of positivity.

Doctor’s Orders to ‘Eat Healthy’ Bolstered by Updated FDA Metrics - 01/23/2025

The Food and Drug Administration’s new approach to deeming foods healthy affirms nutrition science and longstanding TMA policy. While serious obstacles to healthful eating remain, the new guidelines may provide a way to discuss dietary principles like portion sizes and balanced eating with patients.

Teens Vulnerable to Social Media Harm, Exploitation, TMA Tells Legislators - 01/14/2025

 TMA presented data on how unfettered access to social media imperils youth. Medicine proposes new protections to safeguard kids as they navigate a digital terrain rife with the risk of manipulation and exploitation.    

Enhancing Awareness: Physicians Can Help Dispel Myths to Ease the Syphilis Epidemic - 01/08/2025

Physicians can help dispel myths to ease the syphilis epidemic in Texas.

I Never Knew TMA: Had Leadership Development Opportunities - 01/07/2025

TMA Leadership Development programming is designed to help build leadership skills, enhance your résumé, boost your career, and help you gain an understanding of how one can make a positive impact in your profession, your association, and your community.

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Improve Women’s Health and Clarify Abortion Exceptions - 01/06/2025

The Texas Medical Association made big strides last session, securing a hard-won waiver extending Medicaid postpartum coverage to one year and expanding access to other women’s health care through the Healthy Texas Women (HTW) and Family Planning Program, for instance.

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Protect Immunizations to Protect Public Health - 01/06/2025

TMA will work to safeguard immunizations this legislative session.

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Enhance Medicaid Payments and Coverage - 12/31/2024

TMA will work to enhance Medicaid payments and coverage this legislative session

Learn How to Get Paid for Nonmedical Drivers Screening with New CME - 12/19/2024

A newly available CME webinar details how to receive payment for screening patients for nonmedical drivers of health, the constellation of conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect health outcomes and risks.

I Never Knew TMA: Offered Wellness Resources to Fight Burnout - 12/18/2024

The Texas Medical Association offers a menu of resources to help physicians actively put their wellness first.

DSHS Updates Patient Education Resource for Prenatal Practitioners - 12/18/2024

Physicians can access the updated, free publication from DSHS, which includes timely information on topics such as congenital syphilis and urgent maternal warning signs as well as statewide resources for new parents.

I Never Knew TMA: Has Print and Digital Publications to Keep Members Informed - 12/09/2024

The Texas Medical Association keeps physicians informed with timely, tailored, trusted news about the business and practice of medicine.

Multistage, Collaborative Review of State Trauma Rules Yields a Win for Medicine - 12/04/2024

A monthslong, multidisciplinary effort by a consortium of stakeholders in trauma and emergency medical services, including TMA, has borne fruit in trauma care rules that extend physician involvement and prioritize common sense in the trauma facility designation process.

I Never Knew TMA: Has Local Community Health and Outreach Programs - 11/27/2024

The Texas Medical Association’s community outreach programs offer a rewarding alternative for physicians to connect with their patients in ways that can have a big impact even beyond the office.  

Legislature Examines Children’s Mental Health Ahead of 2025 Session - 11/18/2024

Texas lawmakers have made great strides in their ongoing investment in mental health services and support for children and their families, and that must continue if Texas is to improve such access to care and reduce the risk of behavioral health crises.

Unlocking TxEVER: Experts Weigh in on Best Practices for Texas’ Death Records Registry - 11/14/2024

Experts weigh in on best practices to navigate Texas’ death records registry.

50-Year Club Scholarship Fund Supports the Next Generation of Texas Medicine - 11/12/2024

Three medical students received this year’s scholarships, administered by a member-driven charitable fund that has awarded a total of $39,000 to 47 future physicians since 2005.