TCOM’s Chapter of the Texas Medical Association named the 2023 Chapter of the Year
The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine’s chapter of the Texas Medical Association Medical Student Section was selected as the 2023 Chapter of the Year by the organization. The TCOM chapter of The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth was honored at the TMA-MSS 2023 Chapter of the Year Award at the TEXPAC conference held in Fort Worth.
“I was thrilled when I received word that our chapter had been awarded a Chapter of the Year,” said TCOM second-year student and chapter president, Jack Shope. “From day one, our members strived to bring awareness to sociopolitical issues impacting medical education and health care, pursued advocacy at both the state and national level and engaged in service that has certainly made a significant impact on the Fort Worth community.”
Established in 1998, this award is given annually to a chapter that exemplifies leadership, dedication and service to TMA, the American Medical Association and all Texans. This past year, the TCOM TMA Chapter worked diligently to increase engagement in advocacy at the medical school level and throughout Fort Worth and the larger Texas community.
“This award is not simply our own,” Shope said. “It is built on the dedication and effort of students who came before us and strived to build the TCOM TMA MSS chapter into what it is today. The 2021-2022 President, Kate Russell, as well as her officer team, were instrumental in getting students involved with advocacy and growing the organization here in Fort Worth. I am so proud of what our chapter has accomplished and am looking forward to seeing all the fantastic things the TMA-MSS chapter here at TCOM accomplishes in the future.”
With an emphasis on empowering future TMA physicians and leaders in advocacy, the chapter has held multiple events supporting student development by inviting guest speakers on a diverse array of topics, from the importance of policy in medicine to the components and inequities of the U.S. health care system.
Demonstrating a strong dedication to service, the chapter has conducted multiple immunization drives at homeless shelters, community walks, free refugee health clinics and various underserved locations throughout Fort Worth. In addition to assisting with patient examinations at free health clinics, TCOM TMA students distributed more than 130 flu shots last fall.
The group also hosted the monthly “Walk with A Doc” events at a local community center. The chapter has committed to supporting preventive health care and community education with medical student members participating in blood pressure screenings and presenting short educational talks on health-related topics.
“I am so proud of the hard work our chapter leaders have done to expand our outreach to the Fort Worth community and to educate our fellow medical students about the importance of organized medicine and the impact of policy on our future profession,” said Russell, a TCOM third-year student. They are so deserving of this year’s TMA Medical Student Section Chapter of the Year award.”
Social media