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BCMS
HISTORY

Another BCMS

Milestone

Approaching…

170 Years of Advocating for

Physicians and Patients

By Mary E. Nava, MBA, BCMS Chief Government Affairs Officer

In September of 2023, Bexar County Medical Society (BCMS) will
celebrate yet another milestone – its 170th anniversary! From its in-
ception in September of 1853 to the present, the BCMS imprint can
be found throughout San Antonio and Bexar County. The visionary,
founding physicians of the day back in 1853, among them the Society’s
first president, Dr. George Cupples, along with Drs. I.H. Lyons, Henry
P. Howard, Adolphus Scholmann, Ferdinand Herff, F. M. Giddings,
John Hoffman, E.G.A. Schaffter and Dr. Weisselberg paved the way
and were granted a charter to establish what was the first and oldest
county medical society in Texas – the Bexar County Medical Society.
The Texas Medical Association (TMA) had already been organized in
January of the same year. Above: Presented to the Bexar County
In the coming months, there will be a variety of articles presented in Medical Society, By Dr. Frank Paschal,
Dec. 21, 1992.
this publication in honor of the Society’s anniversary. For the record,
the last full feature, special edition of San Antonio Medicine honoring At Left: Dr. George Cupples, Co-Founder
of the Bexar County Medical Society.
the Society’s then 150th anniversary ran in November of 2003. Need-
less to say, a lot has happened since then. It is our hope to share the
historical highlights from the Society’s inception to the present, of what
makes this organization great for the physician and student members
in San Antonio and Bexar County. With this celebratory year, there
will also be a special emphasis on the accomplishments of the organi-
zation over the last 20 years. An added feature will be to include briefs
on many of the physician members who are or were pioneers in their
fields and who serve or have served the patients of San Antonio and
Bexar County in leadership positions within BCMS and the TMA. dent members as they embark on their journey into medicine and also
We will also highlight other “firsts”, including briefs on the first three to physicians in private practice, who so strongly continue to serve and
female presidents in the Society’s history, one of whom is the namesake advocate on behalf of patients and physicians everywhere.
for a newly established annual BCMS award given in honor of a female If you are interested in writing an article for consideration in honor
physician leader in recognition of significant and on-going contribu- of the Society’s 170th anniversary, please submit your inquiry to San
tions to the practice of medicine and service to the community. Antonio Medicine editor, Nancy Salas to editor@bcms.org.
Last, but not least, we want to share the message of why the Bexar
County Medical Society is here and why membership in such an hon- Mary Nava is the chief government affairs officer and lobbyist
orable and prestigious organization is so extremely vital to not only the for BCMS. She has been with the Society since February of
strength of the organization as whole, but also to up and coming stu- 2000.

28 SAN ANTONIO MEDICINE • September 2022