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LEGISLATIVE WRAP-UP

Making the Changes

We Want to See in Medicine

By Marc Ghosn

order to give my student perspective some context, I’d ahead, registered online, and booked my hotels in advance.
like to start off with a bit of background about myself The night before my first First Tuesdays, I stayed up for hours
and my school. Being a part of University of Incarnate reading every document TMA and BCMS had published on their
Word School of Osteopathic Medicine’s inaugural class has been websites about the legislation we were there to support or oppose.
an amazing and enriching educational experience. For the past two I felt like it was my duty to walk in the following morning ready to
years I have helped build a couple of school organizations from the hit the ground running, since we had a packed schedule for the day
ground up and have gained experience with writing, editing, and and I couldn’t afford to lag behind! The next morning, I walked into
passing constitutions, as well as cultivating leadership skills. As a the TMA building in Austin at 7:30 a.m. and was amazed to see
learner at a new medical school, we had no upperclassmen to “show what looked like over a hundred physicians and students in white
us the ropes” on how to be involved in organizations outside of coats in the lobby and large conference room. I felt proud to be a
UIWSOM and so we, as a class, took it upon ourselves to become medical student after seeing all those physicians being strong role
more involved in leadership at state and national levels. I currently models to me and the other medical students in attendance that day.
serve as chair-elect of Texas Association of Family Physician’s med- I watched and listened attentively, taking notes on the legislative
ical student section and as a TEXPAC board of director for the agenda, and I prepared to march to the capitol to help advocate for
medical student section, and through these organizations I heard our patients in Texas. At the end of the welcoming session, I met
about Texas Medical Association’s First Tuesdays. After being active up with the BCMS delegation in the lobby, and we began our walk
in these organizations for the past two years, I realized that the to the capitol.
change we want to see in medicine cannot be rushed, and that we We followed our busy schedule, and after meeting with our first
must start small and work towards the goal by building on it over set of state senators and representatives, there was a very steep
time. Through UIWSOM’s preceptorship shadowing program dur- learning curve of catching up to the years of legislation that had
ing years one and two, I was able to see firsthand some of the issues been passed before my time, which has led to our current political
that physicians encounter that we could fix with this year’s proposed situation. Luckily, though, my research on current legislation made
legislation. that quick “firehose-style” history lesson a little bit easier to under-
I believe the best time to learn about our political atmosphere is stand. Taking up a supportive role in the group, I made sure to take
as a medical student, since my extracurricular time will only get more as many notes as I could in order to understand the details of where
and more scarce as I progress in my career. Although I am currently medicine stood on each house and senate bill. Listening and learning
a third year, my experiences in First Tuesdays occurred in the spring that first day from the amazing physicians in our BCMS delegation
semester of second year, allowing me some free time to attend three was truly an honor. They worked as a team, with clear cut roles and
out of the four First Tuesday events for this legislative session. We areas of expertise: truly a “well-oiled machine” in action.
as medical students in San Antonio are lucky to be a part of a strong What really amazed me was that, throughout the day, there was
Bexar County delegation, since Bexar County Medical Society has never a single mention of political sides being taken, Democrat or
many active physicians in state leadership roles in many medical or- Republican, liberal or conservative. Every topic was discussed with
ganizations (TMA, TAFP, and other orgs). Hearing about First the objectivity of medicine and the benefit of the patient! We all
Tuesdays through the TMA this past January, I made it a goal to at- know that our current political climate is very muddled, with no side
tend as many of the events this legislative session, and so I planned wanting to consider or even listen to the other side’s opinions. I was

28 San Antonio Medicine • August 2019