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PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
Thinking back over the last year, I ap-
preciate all of the many good things that
Dr. K. Ashok Kumar achieved as last
year’s BCMS president. I feel his greatest times and think sadly about what a waste
success in the office was raising the in-
volvement of medical students and resi-
dents from the University of Texas Health
Science Center San Antonio to unprece-
dented levels within BCMS. Students
and residents participated in every med-
ical society committee, and it was won-
derful to see them stepping up to help
shape policies and work through issues.
I am delighted that these young physi-
cians are not making the same mistake I
made when I was in their shoes in the
(increasingly distant) past. I joined the
BCMS as a medical student years ago and
then promptly ignored that membership
until I was out of residency. I never went idency and was well-served by the edu-
to a society function in those years and
certainly never participated in a BCMS
8 San Antonio Medicine • March 2015
Medical students,
residents increase
BCMSinvolvement in
By James L. Humphreys, MD
2015 BCMS President
or TMA committee until I was out of res-
idency and in regular practice. Given
where I am now, I look back on those
that was and all of the opportunities to
meet other doctors and make important
connections that I let go by. I suppose I
can say that at least I caught on to the
value of being involved at some point,
and my professional life has been made
exponentially richer because of it.
Because of that, I am especially happy
to have had so much participation over
the last year by these doctors at the very
start of their careers. If they can main-
tain that interest, they will reap the ben- It is about time that changed! I urge all of
efits much faster than I was able to. I
was a product of the Health Science
Center both for medical school and res-
cation I received there. I am proud of
the work that the Health Science Center
does and am more than happy to show
off their students and residents in the
local community and at TMA and
BCMS events.
In the past, student participation in
First Tuesdays at the Capitol has included
an occasional student accompanying us
for legislative visits. This year, the Health
Science Center organized a group of stu-
dents to attend the first First Tuesday event
in February, and I couldn’t have been hap-
pier to have them. Usually UTMB, Texas
Tech and Texas A&M medical schools are
the only ones in the state to have a real stu-
dent presence at any of the First Tuesdays.
our members to encourage the students
and residents, and welcome them whole-
heartedly to our ranks.
James L. Humphreys, MD, is the 2015
president of BCMS. He is a pathologist
with Precision Pathology in San Antonio.