VOLUNTEERISM AND COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS


The Volunteerism and Community Service Award honors Masters, Members, or Fellows of the Texas Chapter who have distinguished themselves in voluntary service in the area of medicine, independent of training or position requirements. Awardees must be Masters, Fellows, or Members of the College. The service must have been performed on a voluntary basis. Volunteer work must have been done as a physician and be medically related. Recipients of this award have distinguished themselves as true humanitarians to be honored for their voluntary contributions in medicine. They will also be eligible for nomination for the Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for Volunteerism and Community Service Presented by ACP at the College's Annual Session.

2021/22 Elena Jimenez Gutierrez, MD, FACP
2021/22 Felicia Jordan, MD, MBA, MACP
2020: Richard McCallum, MD, FACP

2019: Melissa Isbell, MD, FACP
2018: Daniel Crowe, MD, FACP
2017: Alan Keister, MD, FACP
2015: Gordon (Bert) Strom Jr., MD, FACP
2014: Salim Surani, MD, MPH, MSHM, FACP
2013: James Wagner, MD, MSC, FACP
2012: Darla Lowe, MD
2011: Ruth Berggren, MD
2009: Mohamed H. Haq, MD, FACP
2008: Fred Campbell, MD, FACP
2008: Thomas McHorse, MD
2006: Richard A. Jackson, MD, FACP
2006: Rafael A. Rodriguez, MD
2005: Ted Nicklaus, MD, FACP
2002: Joslyn B. Weiner Fisher, MD
2002: Frederick M. Zaunbrecher, MD
2000: Edith Irby Jones, MD


Richard McCallum, MD, FACP
Born and raised in Brisbane, Australia, Dr. Richard McCallum earned a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from The University of Queensland.  He completed his Residency at Washington University’s Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri and his Fellowship in Gastroenterology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He served on the Gastroenterology faculty at Yale University School of Medicine before being recruited as chief of Gastroenterology by the University of Virginia and then the University of Kansas Medical Center prior to his appointment in 2009 as Professor and Founding Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Director of the Center for Neurogastroenterology and GI Motility Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso.

Dr. McCallum has made major advances in pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal motility disorders and functional bowel problems.  His main focus has been on gastroparesis and the interactions between the brain and the gut as well as understanding the mechanisms of nausea and vomiting.  Dr. McCallum is the inventor of a gastric pacemaker to help patients with gastroparesis.  He has more than 450 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 120 textbook chapters and edited 14 scientific textbooks.  As the principal investigator for one of six centers of excellence for gastroparesis in the nation, Dr. McCallum’s most recent award was a five-year $2.5 million grant from the NIH.  He has mentored many future academic leaders including the 2005 Nobel Prize Laureate, Dr. Barry Marshall awarded for his discovery of H. pylori causing peptic ulcer.

He has received the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award for Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Academic Medicine by the Texas Medical Association, the Resident Alumni Award from Washington University Mentor of the year by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation and recently was appointed an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland.  

His contributions to the ACP in Texas include preparing his Residents to present at ACP Associates Day, judging Students and Resident Posters and speaker at Annual meetings as well as being a preceptor for the General Internal Medicine Statewide Program.  He also directs the Texas Tech RotoCare Free Clinic supervising students seeing underserved, uninsured patients on a weekly volunteering basis.  He and Mary Beth, his wife of 43 years who is a competitive ballroom dancer, particularly enjoy their family of 3 children and 3 grandchildren.

 

Melissa Isbell, MD, FACP
Melissa Isbell, MD, FACP attended college at UT Austin, graduating with a degree in Biology. She then went to medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She trained in Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Following her desire to serve those with renal disease, she came to San Antonio and trained in Nephrology. She has been in private practice in San Antonio since 1995 with Renal Associates, PA. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. She has been an ACP member for 20 years and a fellow since 2004.

She has had important leadership positions, notably at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital. She has a number of committee positions, and served as the Chief of Staff. Her current leadership position is as a member of the Bioethics Committee. She is currently serving at Texas Transplant Institute as a transplant nephrologist and is a Medical Director with Fresenius Medical Care with a special interest in Peritoneal Dialysis and Home Hemodialysis. She also is a leader in the nephrology community, having served as a member and President of the National Kidney Foundation Medical Advisory Board of South Texas. Her services were recognized by honoring her as the Volunteer of the Year by the South Texas National Kidney Foundation. The National Kidney Foundation also recognized her with a Volunteer Leader Award. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas Kidney Foundation.

She has a strong interest in education. She is a founding member of the Texas Kidney Foundation, and remains the force behind their educational efforts, helping to organize their Kidney C.A.R.E. (Clinician and Adult Renal Education) Symposium for the last 20 years; 350-400 renal professionals attend this meeting every year since the Symposium's inception. She also has mentored medical students in her practice for the past 2 years, helping to develop physicians for South Texas.

Her acts of volunteerism, willingness to help others and giving attitude not only have a direct impact on her patients but serves as an inspiration and role model to students, clinical and non-clinical staff, physicians and general community members.


Daniel Crow, MD, FACP
Daniel Crowe, MD, FACP is a Physician Executive, Diabetologist, and a leader in changing the paradigm for managing chronic pain and addiction. He is Senior Medical Director with Superior Health Plan, an Austin-based, fully-integrated physical and behavioral health Medicaid Managed Care Organization that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation. Superior Health Plan covers more than a million Texans, working with the State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission's (HHSC) programs including STAR (Medicaid), Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), CHIP Perinatal Care, and STAR+PLUS, Medicare, and the Health Exchange in many cities and counties across Texas. Its sister company, Superior HealthPlan Network, manages the STAR Health program on a statewide basis. At Superior, he leads efforts to integrate physical heath and mental health and to address the complex needs of those with multiple chronic diseases and substance use disorders. Prior to that he was Chief Medical Officer of CommUnityCare in Austin, TX, a Federally Qualified Health Center providing care for the underserved in Central Texas at 22 sites throughout the Greater Austin area. Before moving to Austin, he was head of the Diabetes Program at Southboro Medical Group in the Greater Metro Boston area where he was also Assistant Medical Director. He is a member of the Clinical Advisory Board for the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology and has been a long-time member of the Diabetes Technology Society. He is a graduate of the IHI's Innovation College and has worked on health care reform in New England and in Texas. He is a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt and is experienced in using the IHI's Model for Improvement. In their spare time, he and his wife perform jazz and enjoy the outdoors together.

Alan Keister, MD, FACP
Dr Alan Keister was born and raised in Amarillo, TX. After high school, he studied at Baylor University graduating with honors. He then went to University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and graduated with honors in 1996. He pursued further training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and completed is residency in Internal Medicine and was honored to serve as Chief Resident 1999-2000. Alan moved back to Amarillo to start his practice in general internal medicine. He joined the ACP and served on the BSA hospital medical executive committee as well as the Potter Randall Medical Society. He also continues to teach medical students at Texas Tech University Medical School. Alan became a fellow in the ACP in 2008.

During medical school, Alan began traveling to Mexico for medical mission trips and those experiences set a course for the future. After residency, he began to travel regularly to Central America serving the people of Nicaragua and Honduras. Those travels helped inspire the dream of Heal the City Free Clinic in Amarillo. In September 2014, Alan founded HTC in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Amarillo. The mission of the clinic is to provide quality urgent care to the uninsured of the community and connect them to existing resources. The clinic began in an 1400 square foot house and has subsequently is expanding into a 20,000 square foot former YMCA building due to exponential growth. The clinic has served over 5000 patients. The clinic is staffed by a small team and relies heavily on physician and community volunteers. The clinic has enjoyed success due to collaborative relationships with local foundations, hospital systems, medical and pharmacy schools, and the generous Panhandle community. Dr Keister looks forward to seeing the growth of HTC as a chronic care clinic and wellness center opens in 2018.

In his spare time, Alan enjoys spending time with his wife and 4 daughters. He enjoys seeing them serve with him on mission trips and HTC as well. Besides volunteering, Alan enjoys traveling, hunting, fly fishing and reading. And yes he still cheers for Baylor.

Gordon (Bert) Strom Jr., MD, FACP
I was born in Mississippi, met the love of my life in the second grade, and attended undergraduate and Medical School at the University of Mississippi. I completed my medical training through the Air Force at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center in San Antonio. I moved with my wife and young family to Paris, Texas in 1983 and have since resided in the same home. We have been blessed with three wonderful children and seven gifted grandchildren.

I was not always interested in medicine. Like so many of my generation, the space program, the walk on the moon, and Viet Nam shaped my plans. I trained as an Internist because of mentors that impressed and encouraged me. I have been fortunate to have had great teachers and peers during my career. What impressed me the most about them was their passion for patients and dedication to their craft.

My military career totaled twenty-five years, seventeen of which required driving to Vicksburg, Mississippi once or twice a month. The example of selfless service that I saw in the enlisted men and women and in the officers of my unit was inspiring. Some of the best friendships that I have known were forged on deployments with the Army Reserve. Any organizational skills that I have learned were the result of the influence of outstanding military commanders.

In 1985 I was encouraged by other staff members in our community to become involved in the Texas Medical Foundation. My ultimate responsibility was to chair the program review committee which supervised the peer review activities of the Foundation. The experiences of meeting physicians from all over the state and reviewing their difficult cases gave me and my committee some of the best learning experiences that anyone could have experienced.

I have truly been blessed. I have been supported by inspiring people and hopefully, have made them proud of their influence on my life and practice. I plan to continue working as an Internist as long as I am effective, and serving in our free clinic, The Good Samaritan Clinic, in Paris, Texas.

Salim Surani, MD, MPH, MSHM, FACP
Dr. Surani trained and practiced in some of the finest institution in the country as Yale and Baylor. Besides his degree in Medicine and certification in Internal Medicine, Sleep and Pulmonary Medicine he also has Masters Degree in Public Health as well as Health Administration.

He is universally respected for his superior clinical competence, and academic accomplishments. He is a prolific author and investigator with countless publications to his credit. He also serves in the leadership for The CHEST Foundation. He is known as true humanitarian among his colleague. He has done volunteer work in several countries to help the people in need, besides serving the indigent people of Coastal Bend. He has spent innumerable hours in educating the children of the Coastal bend area regarding hazard of smoking and also teaching them about healthy sleep behavior. He also has the unique honor of being the founder of “It’s Your Life Foundation” with the mission to educate and they have reached more than 50,000 elementary school children over the past six years.

He also pioneered the program “iConquer” in collaboration with high school children to combat childhood Diabetes and Obesity. CHEST Foundation, TMA Foundation, Mayor Fitness Council, Corpus Christi School District, Coastal Bend Diabetic Coalition, Texas A&M College of Nursing as well as several local Foundations have endorsed this program.

He developed high caliber hip-hop song to educate the middle and high school children passing the education message in a subliminal way: Addicted (addressing life cycle of smokers); Torn (addressing substance abuse); iConquer (addressing childhood obesity and diabetes); Blame (addressing sleep deprivation). In addition he has produced several health education movies receiving 5 major movie awards. Details can be found at www.itsyourlifefoundation.org.

The Texas Chapter of the ACP is proud to recognize Salim Surani, MD, MPH, MSHM, FACP with the 2014 TXACP Chapter Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

James Wagner, MD, MSC, FACP
Dr. James Wagner is Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. After his undergraduate work as a “Texas Aggie”, Jim received his MD degree from UT Southwestern Medical School and completed residency in Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern. He also received a Master’s of Science degreein Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1997. Jim became the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at UT Southwestern in 1994 and has had a major impact on the quality of the medical education experience of a generation of medical students. He also directs the Clinical Medicine Course and is a founding co-director of the Academic Colleges thus impacting significantly the early clinical education of students.

Jim is the founder and faculty sponsor of both the internal medicine interest group and the statewide preceptorship program at UT Southwestern, in which capacities he has worked closely with the Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians. In 2006, working with a group of medical students, Jim founded the Monday Clinic, a student –run free clinic for underserved persons organized in partnership with the North Dallas Shared Ministries. This grew out of Jim’s work as a volunteer physician at North Dallas Shared Ministries for several years. The Monday Clinic has become an institution in which hundreds of patients annually receive free care from hundreds of medical and undergraduate students supervised by volunteer faculty. Jim personally volunteers over one hundred hours each year as the attending physician at the clinic. Recently Jim developed an elective at the clinic such that senior medical students can perform quality improvement projects for academic credit. This effort achieves a marriage of community service, clinical safety and effectiveness projects and medical education significantly benefiting both the participating students and the clinic.

Jim has also spent several years taking medical students on annual spring break medical mission trips to Juarez, Mexico. He has personally contributed additional volunteer activities in the Dallas community, including serving at the Dallas Convention Center providing medical care to refugees from Hurricanes Ike and Katrina and at the 2012 National Association of Free Clinic event in Dallas, which served over 1200 patients.

Jim was recognized for his significant contributions to the Dallas community with the Barbara Stark Baxter medical Volunteer of the Year Award in 2012. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. Through his many volunteer activities, Jim contributes both directly to the care of the underserved, but even more importantly he serves as a role model and teacher to students who because of his influence will incorporate volunteerism into their own long careers in medicine. Thus Jim demonstrates all the attributes associated with the Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for Volunteerism and Community Service.

The Texas Chapter of the ACP is proud to recognize James Wagner, MD, MSc, FACP with the 2013 TXACP Chapter Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

Darla Lowe, MD
Dr. Lowe began her career with a BS in Nursing with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.  She studied Chemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington and then attended medical school and was awarded her M.D. degree from Texas A&M College of Medicine in 1990.  She completed an Internal Medicine Residency at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York and then served as Chief Resident.  Dr. Lowe joined the faculty at Scott and White Hospital / Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in 1994.  She was appointed as Associate Clerkship Director in 2006 and continues to serve in this capacity.

Dr. Lowe has been involved in the Temple Community Free Clinic (TCFC) since 1995.  The mission states that the TCFC is “dedicated to serving those in need of medical care and will deliver that care through a medical home that supports wellness, promotes patient access and satisfaction, and solicits community involvement”.  The vision of the TCFC states that “through enhanced partnership with the community we will achieve our mission by providing a broader array of patient services while improving both access to those services and the patient care experience.”  The TCFC serves a vital role in her community to provide access to medical services for individuals that are in need of medical care.  Dr. Lowe currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Clinic and has been the Medical Director of the Clinic since 2009.

Dr. Lowe was part of the response efforts at the TCFC in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast.  Many evacuees sought refuge in our community at that time.  In addition, in 2006, she also volunteered to help with evacuees from Hurricane Rita.  She was awarded Volunteer of the Year for Temple in 2009, and received Public Citizen of the Year from the Association of Social Workers Central Texas Branch in 2009.  She helped start a Women’s Clinic at the TCFC to serve the women of Bell County who no longer qualify for services through the Bell County Health Department.  She actively participates in medical student and resident education and currently, as part of the curriculum, the students and residents have rotations at the TCFC to expose them to all aspects of health care.

Another extraordinary contribution that she provides for the community has been through gardening.  She obtained her Master Gardener certification in 2002, and dedicated a Wildlife Garden in 2007 at an elementary school in Belton, Texas that was 3 years in the making.  Other notable works include co-creation of a Mother’s Garden at the Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children (in honor of her mother), and three Eagle Scout gardening projects.  She continues to volunteer in gardening by teaching individual classes making birdhouses and planting wildflowers.  She is also actively involved in the Garden Club.

In conclusion, Dr. Darla Lowe has been heavily involved in the Temple/Belton community and is a true servant to those in need of medical care.  Her leadership at the TCFC has greatly impacted the excellent care that our population receives.  Additionally, her volunteerism as a Master Gardener has added beauty to where she lives.  She truly cares for the health of the community and freely gives of herself for the betterment of others. 

Ruth Berggren, MD
Dr. Berggren joined the faculty at University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in September 2006. Prior to being appointed Director of the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics, she directed the second-year medical school course on infectious diseases, and designed a new elective course that she continues to direct, "Poverty, Health, and Disease.”

Dr. Berggren's internal medicine training was at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Colorado, where she was a Division of AIDS Fellow funded by the NIH. She then took a faculty position at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX, where she pioneered a program for the treatment of Hepatitis C in persons co-infected with HIV. Dr. Berggren joined the faculty of Tulane University in October 2001, where she worked for five years. While at Tulane, she founded and co-directed the Tulane-MARCH program to prevent maternal to child transmission of HIV in rural Haiti.

During Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Berggren was the teaching physician assigned to the Infectious Disease ward of New Orleans' Charity Hospital. She remained at Charity for six days and nights after Katrina struck, working with medical staff to care for critically ill, abandoned patients. After all patients were evacuated from Charity Hospital, Dr. Berggren and her team were rescued by a private jet from Texas. She has subsequently published two articles in the New England Journal of Medicine about this experience and about the impact of hurricane Katrina on health care infrastructure in New Orleans.

Dr. Berggren grew up in the Artibonite Valley of central Haiti, just one hour away from Mirebalais, at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. She is fluent in both Haitian Creole and French. Dr. Berggren maintains her relationships in Haiti, mentoring students on bi-annual global health trips.  Following the January 2010 earthquakes in Port au Prince she led relief efforts along the Dominican Republic/Haiti border.

Dr. Berggren is board-certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases with significant experience and particular interest in clinical AIDS and viral hepatitis research, as well as in implementing HIV care in resource poor settings.

Mohamed H. Haq, MD, FACP
Mohamed H. Haq started his practice of medical oncology in the South East Harris County area after completing a fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1980. He immediately became involved in the local chapter of American Cancer Society. He participated in community education, screening programs and fundraisers. He also served in various leadership positions for the Cancer Society. In 1984, he received the sword of hope award from the Cancer Society.

Dr. Haq has been closely involved with The Rose, a well known nonprofit breast cancer diagnostic institution in the Houston area since its inception. It provides diagnostic and limited treatment services to women with breast cancer who lack resources and do not qualify for federal, state or county health benefits. He serves on its advisory board and on the medical steering committee. He provided free chemotherapy administration, after obtaining free medications from the pharmaceutical companies. This eventually led to a grant from Komen foundation to The Rose to obtain drugs for these women, and he helped recruit several other physicians to volunteer in this program helping one or two women a year. He was a recognized by Macy’s for this work with the Heart and Soul award in 2004. He continues to provide this service.

Most recently he has been involved with Shifa Foundation and Shifa clinics in the greater Houston area. Initially this was started by a group of Muslim physicians as a free clinic. This has grown to be a full-fledged nonprofit organization running four clinics. Dr. Haq raised funds to establish one of these clinics in the South East Harris County area and serves as its coordinator. The clinic provides free general medical care, free immunizations, lab and pap smears at cost (5-10 dollars). Based on his experience establishing the free clinic, he’s in the process of completing a web-based book, which would be freely available to everyone, is on how to establish charity clinics especially addressing the concerns of legal and malpractice issues for the volunteer physicians.

He also has been the chairman of the Public Health Committee of the Islamic Medical Association of North America for the last two years. Under his leadership a vigorous effort is being made to make all Islamic campuses in North America smoke free.

Besides having a busy practice and volunteer commitments he still continues to be involved in clinical research. His most recent publication was on Breast Cancer in Muslim Countries; Strategies for Risk Reduction, published in 2009.

He is a graduate of Osmania Medical College in India, happily married with his wife, who plays an active role in management of the Charity Clinic. He has three children, two of whom are in the medical profession, a resident and medical student.

On behalf of his many friends, colleagues, and patients, TXACP is proud to name Mohamed Haq, MD, FACP, as the 2009 recipient of the Texas Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

Fred Campbell, MD, FACP
Fred Campbell, a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and Fellow of the American College of Physicians, has had a clinical practice in San Antonio for two decades.

He is also a staff internist and board member of Community Medicine Associates, and a former Medical Director of the Southwest Medical Group.

Beginning in 1985, Dr. Campbell donated one morning per week to practice in the community-based Wesley Clinic on San Antonio’s economically depressed south side. Until 2003, he continued his weekly clinic at the Wesley as well as the El Carmen and La Misión clinics. He served on the Board of Directors of the Wesley Clinic from 1996-2000.

Beginning in 1989 and continuing to the present, he has participated in and directed medical missions to northern Mexico, twice yearly, under the sponsorship of Methodist Health Care Ministries. These consist of two full days of primary patient care in which he is joined by physician, dentist, and medical student volunteers. He has completed almost 40 trips over this time span.

Between 1989 and 1995, Dr. Campbell took time from his practice to perform summer locum tenens stints every other year in USPHS Indian Health Service facilities. These consisted of two-week visits under the AMA’s Project USA program. For over 10 years, he has also served as a volunteer advocate for Child Advocates of San Antonio. This program evaluates the circumstances of abused children and their families, and assists the courts in making informed judgments on behalf of the child. He and his wife assist two families annually in this way.

Dr. Campbell has taken leadership positions in non-profit organizations that provide health services to persons in need. He served on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of San Antonio and South Central Texas between 1997 and 2005, including chairing the board for two years. In 2001 he was honored by Planned Parenthood for his achievements with a major planned function, and in 2004 he received its Volunteer of the Year Award. Last year he received the Bishop Ernest T. Dixon Award, which was celebrated at a service and following reception at Travis Park United Methodist Church. He has served on the Board of Directors of Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas for 7 years. Methodist Healthcare Ministries is a large charitable foundation that disburses grants totaling over $25 million annually for health services in south Texas. Among these are programs for teenage parents, medical and dental services at the Wesley Clinic, and the Wesley parish nurse program. Currently he serves as the board president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice Texas Affiliate.

Dr. Campbell has been a lecturer in medical economics and ethics at UTHSCSA since 1999 and currently teaches third-year clinical clerkships in Medicine and Advanced Cardiac Support. He mentors students with Frontera de Salud, serves as a member of the School of Medicine Admissions Committee, and was a contributor to the book Physician Empowerment Through Capitation. Raised in Waco, he received his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University before graduating from Baylor College of Medicine with a MD in 1976.

When Dr. Campbell is not working or volunteering, he enjoys spending time with his two grandchildren, traveling, scuba diving and fishing.

On behalf of his many friends, colleagues, and patients, TAIM is proud to name Fred Campbell, MD, FACP, as the 2008 recipient of the Texas Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

 

Thomas McHorse, MD
Tom S. McHorse, MD, has done much to ensure good health care for the poor in Travis County for three decades. Dr. McHorse began his volunteer service in Nashville, Tennessee, when he worked at a street clinic during his residency at Vanderbilt University before moving to Austin in the mid-1970s.

He has served at the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic, previously known as the Caritas Clinic, in Austin since 1976. The clinic is open three nights a week and sees an average 5,500 patients a year. For the last 14 years he has been the clinic’s medical director, helping the executive director get appropriate referrals for patients and reviewing the credentials of volunteer physicians.

Much of the clinic’s work laid the foundation for the Project Access, a six-year-old coordinated system of volunteer physician care, hospital care, diagnostic services and medications assistance for low-income, uninsured residents of Travis County. Dr. McHorse chairs the project’s executive committee and was named Physician of the Year by the Travis County Medical Society (TCMS) four years ago. Past president of the medical society, he received the Jordan Award for Community Service in 2002.

A member of Tarrytown Methodist Church since coming to Austin, Dr. McHorse says his family’s support has been crucial in getting so much accomplished in indigent care. Volunteerism runs in the family. Spouse Kay has been recognized as Volunteer of the Year by the Junior League and their three adult sons participate in charity work as well. On behalf of his many friends, colleagues, and patients, TAIM is proud to name Thomas McHorse, MD, as the 2008 recipient of the Texas Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

 

Richard A. Jackson, MD, FACP
Richard Jackson was born in New Orleans and raised in Houston. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in zoology. He went on to obtain his master’s degree in biochemistry at Baylor College of Medicine and received his medical degree from UT Southwestern. He completed his internship at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago and his residency at Baylor Affiliated Hospitals. As a major in the U.S. Air Force, Dr. Jackson served as chief of internal medicine at Tachikawa Hospital in Tokyo.

Dr. Jackson and his wife, Sandra, returned to Texas in 1976 and joined his father, Daniel Jackson, MD, in the practice of internal medicine. He continues to actively practice general internal medicine. Dr. Jackson is a Fellow of the ACP and has been named in the Best Doctors in America since 1997. He enjoys teaching residents, medical students, and advanced nurse practitioners.

After his brother Robert E. Jackson, MD, FACP, joined him in practice in 1985, Dr. Jackson became interested in providing health care for indigent Hispanics in Houston. He volunteered on Sundays to see patients in Eastwood Health Clinic and took a medical Spanish course to allow him to converse with his patients. Eastwood recognized him for a decade of medical service.

In 2001, Dr. Jackson joined the board of the Emergency Aid Coalition, a group of 14 congregations in midtown Houston that feed the homeless and indigent. He has had a satisfying experience as a board member and now as president.

In 2004, he discovered a friend, Dr. Edward C. Murphy, Houston, had organized a mission group to Peru. He joined Texas Medical Misión and discovered the mission idea was twofold: to provide direct patient care for 60,000 of the extremely poor in Manchay, Peru, and to send a container with medical supplies to the Hospital Dos De Mayo in Lima for the 8 million people it serves.

After networking with drug companies, individuals and community action groups, he helped implement the sending of a container filled with $400,000 worth of supplies. In 2006, he helped lead a mission team of 14 doctors, nurses and students who spent six days working in the hospital and seeing 600-700 people in the clinic and throughout the city in makeshift clinics.

In addition to this most recent project, Dr. Jackson has served on many volunteer boards. For many years, he was on the board of directors of Houston Community Voicemail, a voice messaging service for the homeless. He served as chair of the Social Action Committee at his congregation, and as a member of the board of trustees of Congregation Emanuel. He actively participates in a Mitzvah Day, a special community service event in November.

On behalf of his many friends, colleagues, and patients, TAIM is proud to name Richard A. Jackson, MD, FACP, as the 2006 recipient of the Texas Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

 

Rafael A. Rodriguez, MD
Dr. Rafael Rodríguez was born in the Dominican Republic. He attended Instituto Techologico de Santo Domingo from 1982 to 1987. While there and prior to medical school, he volunteered as director of an immunization campaign and was involved in CARE projects to obtain food for the poor of that area.

He then went on to his medical training and residency, completing a year of surgery and another of urology. He served as a general practitioner with CONANI, the Children’s National Council of the Dominican Republic. In 1993, he was accepted into an internal medicine residency at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York. He was named resident of the year in 1995.

Dr. Rodriguez began working in Weslaco with Julio Lopez, MD, in 1996. In 1998, he went into solo practice. He later accepted an interim appointment as medical director of Knapp Medical Center Hospice Care Services in Weslaco. In a short time, he turned the service into a profitable entity.

This work spurred him to take courses in hospice and palliative care, eventually becoming board-certified by the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Care. He brought this information back to Knapp and changed the way pain management was done there. He took great personal care of hospice patients and visited many of them at home.

Dr. Rodriguez kept busy at other endeavors, as well. He waschair of the Knapp Medical Center Journal Club and served as a speaker for the Knapp’s Department of Education and the Diabetic Center. Dr. Rodriguez also served as chief of medicine in 2000-2002 and chief of the medical staff in 2003-2004.

While visiting a patient’s home, Dr. Rodriguez mentioned his dream of the Aurora House, a place he envisioned to house the terminally ill who had no good place to die. The patient’s offer of an acre of land on which to build the hospice further fueled Dr. Rodriguez’ dream.

To quote Dr. Rodriguez, “This idea started because of the necessity of a place where people of the Mid-Valley Area can die with peace and dignity. We needed a place where friends and families could visit patients, keeping them from feeling abandoned.”

Dr. Rodriguez was able to inspire many community members with his passion for the project and solicit their help. He contacted other physicians, businessmen such as concrete suppliers, telecommunications personnel, contractors, and the state representative. Dr. Rodriguez and his wife visited several possible sites and homes.

Dr. Rodriguez’ wife, Delyssa, finally found a home for sale on the Internet that, with some modifications, could work. Aurora House had its grand opening in August, and the project thrives, thanks to the goodwill of residents, families, and community and charitable organizations.

Dr. Rodriguez recently moved to Mesquite to continue his endeavors in hospice and palliative care. He has left a great legacy and continues to attend Aurora House board meetings.

In addition to his professional endeavors, Dr. Rodriguez is the proud father of Zoe, age 2, and Ava, age 2 months.

Dr. Rodriguez’ career is young, and we, his colleagues and friends, join in recognizing his outstanding achievements thus far with the Texas Volunteerism and Community Service Award. We hope his passion and vision continues to grow as he fulfills his life’s work.

 

Ted Nicklaus, MD, FACP
Ted Nicklaus was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas. He attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he graduated with a B.A. in English. He went on to obtain his M.D. from Columbia University in New York City. His internship and residency were served at University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where he became Chief Resident in 1964, and also completed a Pulmonary Fellowship. Dr. Nicklaus then served as Chief of Pulmonary Disease at Brooke General Hospital at Fort Sam Houston for two years.

Dr. Nicklaus returned to the Texas panhandle in 1968, and joined the long-standing practice of Dr. Clay Dine. He actively practiced general and pulmonary medicine until 1996 when he left the practice to concentrate on geriatrics. He is board certified (and has recertified twice!) in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and geriatrics, as well as being a Certified Medical Director. Dr. Nicklaus is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Nicklaus received the Texas Chapter ACP Laureate Award in 1994.

In his role as geriatrician, Dr Nicklaus has served as Medical Director for several nursing homes in Amarillo. He established the first Senior Health Center in Amarillo and was instrumental in establishing the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) clinic at Jan Werner Day Care Center, a comprehensive medical program for the medically fragile senior.

Over the past year, Dr. Nicklaus has focused on launching the Golden Stars Program at Polk Street United Methodist Church in Amarillo. With selfless dedication, passion and leadership, Dr. Nicklaus expanded the existing elder visitation program to incorporate a much-needed parish nurse program. A licensed nurse is now able to see patients at the church, as well as make visits to homebound patients. The nurse can monitor blood pressure, contact the patient¹s physician to help clarify medical questions, arrange appointments, and even help the patients with insurance forms and access to medical resources. Dr. Nicklaus has treated patients in the program, recruited volunteers, and gathered donations to build and maintain the program. The Golden Stars program hopes to serve as a model for other churches and community organizations and broaden their services to include any senior in need of assistance in Amarillo.

In addition to this most recent project, Dr. Nicklaus has served on many volunteer boards. For many years he was on the board of directors, and eventually served as president, of the Amarillo Independent School District. He also served for nine years and was president of the Amarillo Area Foundation, a major private charitable organization serving the 26 counties of the Texas panhandle. Dr. Nicklaus was on the board and president of Jan Werner Adult Day Care Center for ten years. He served as the liaison physician for the Texas Medical Directors Association and the Texas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (TAHSA), receiving their distinguished service award in 2005. He was Chairman of the shared Long Term Care Ethics Committee for TAHSA nursing homes in Amarillo. He has also served on the Panhandle Regional Advisory Council for the Texas Department of Human Services. And finally, for the past ten years he has been the developer and coordinator of the Amarillo Lay School of Theology.

On behalf of his many friends, colleagues, and patients, the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine-American College of Physicians is proud to name Ted Nicklaus, MD, FACP, as the 2005 recipient of the Texas Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

 

Joslyn B. Weiner Fisher, MD
Doctor Joey Weiner was raised in Houston, Texas, then attended Tufts University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Community Health. After graduation from college, she spent 9 months in Asia including 6 months in rural India working with a development agency on health-related issues such as maternal and child health, and safe drinking water. Upon her return to the U.S., she earned her medical degree and completed residency in Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. In June 1998, she won the Eli Lilly Humanistic Award for residents in the Department of Medicine as well as the Outstanding Resident Award from the Houston Society of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Weiner was invited to remain as faculty upon completion of her residency, and is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. In addition, she practices Internal Medicine at Ben Taub General Hospital, a public hospital serving Harris County's poor and indigent population.

Soon after starting at Ben Taub General Hospital teaching in the Section of General Medicine in 1998, she recognized the need for a coordinated response to domestic violence survivors presenting to Harris County Hospital District facilities. She founded and now directs the Volunteer Initiative vs. Violent Acts (V.I.V.A.) Project, an interdisciplinary team striving to improve the health, safety, and well-being of victims through education of health-care providers, coordination of internal resources, and collaboration with community agencies. Over 1,000 health-care personnel have received information on the medical consequences of domestic violence and what health-care professionals can do to intervene. She and the VIVA team share responsibilities in carrying a round-the-clock consult pager to respond to health-care providers' questions regarding management of domestic violence cases.

Dr. Weiner staffs the VIVA Clinic, a unique, multidisciplinary 1/2-day clinic each week, which provides follow-up care for patients who have experienced domestic violence. The clinic includes medical, psychiatric, and social services for patients. Each week a domestic violence advocate from a local domestic violence center aids with safety planning and accessing resources for patients in the clinic. The VIVA clinic also serves as a training opportunity for approximately 40 third-year medical students and 2 psychiatry residents each year.

In the past year, this new clinic has received several hundred referrals from both within the hospital and from outside agencies (e.g., domestic violence shelters, adult protective services, and the District Attorney's Victims Assistance Office), and has provided care for over 100 domestic violence survivors. In October 2000, the VIVA Project received the Innovative Program in Health Care Award from the Texas Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care. Dr. Weiner received the Bridge Over Troubled Water's Annual Medical Civic Award in January 2002 for her work with the clients of the Bridge (an agency for survivors of domestic violence). Most recently, Dr. Weiner co-founded and co-chairs the Women's Health Network, an organization in the greater Houston area designed to foster interdisciplinary, inter-institutional collaborations for women's health research and programming.

Dr. Weiner also serves on the boards of Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA), Houston Area Women's Center, Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, and Texans for Gun Safety. She is currently working with AVDA to review their program services, the Houston Area Women's Center to establish a shelter clinic for the women who reside there, and Texans for Gun Safety to develop a Speaker's Bureau and community outreach program.

We join many of Dr. Weiner's colleagues, patients, and volunteers in recognizing her unfailing and compassionate dedication to eradicating domestic violence. The Texas Chapter of the ACP-ASIM is proud to name Dr. Weiner as a recipient of the Texas Chapter Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

 

Frederick M. Zaunbrecher, MD
Doctor Frederick M. Zaunbrecher was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and spent a significant period at his hometown of Rayne, La., where his grandfather was a horse and buggy country doctor. Seeing his grandfather's devotion and love for his patients was a major inspiration and determining factor in his choice of vocation. After graduation from high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he joined the Army Security Agency as an intelligence operator and teacher of Special Forces advisors assigned to Viet Nam. He completed pre-medical studies at the University of Southwest Louisiana in Lafayette, and his medical education and Internal Medicine residency at Louisiana State University (LSU) and Charity Hospital in New Orleans. In 1975, he and his family moved to Galveston for a pulmonary fellowship at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). Board Certification in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine followed.

Dr. Zaunbrecher joined Internal Medicine Associates of Galveston in 1977, and later co-founded the Gulf Coast Medical Group, serving as its charter chairman of the board. In 1997, after 20 years of private practice, he joined the full time faculty at UTMB, where he currently holds a position of Clinical Professor of Medicine.

He is a longtime member of the American Society of Internal Medicine, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association and Texas Medical Association, along with his County Medical Society. He participated in the Texas Society of Internal Medicine's preceptorship program from 1992 through 1998, for which he received the ACP-ASIM award in Recognition of Participation in Ambulatory Teaching.

His primary hospital affiliation was with St. Mary's Hospital of Galveston from 1977 through its closure in the late 1990s. He served there as medical director of cardiovascular services and the respiratory department, president of the medical staff, and chairman of numerous medical staff committees. He also served as a director of the Houston Metropolitan Health Network physician-hospital organization.

Dr. Zaunbrecaher is a founding member of Immanuel Baptist Church and co-founder of The Luke Society, Inc. He has served in leadership positions for the American Lung Association, William Temple Foundation, Galveston Chamber of Commerce, Gideons, Transitional Housing Task Force, and Advisory Committee of the Jesse Tree.

He is married to Michele Zaunbrecher, his life partner and source of inspiration for thirty years this December. They have raised their three boys in Galveston.

In 1980, Rev. Eddie Tubbs, Director of UTMB's Baptist Student Union, approached Dr. Zaunbrecher to develop a medical mission trip taking 25 doctors and other health care professionals to Juarez, Mexico, for a week. The following year the Zaunbrechers and Tubbs created The Luke Society, Inc., a charitable foundation, to ensure that the medical mission would continue for years to come. The three mission statements defined in its charter are demonstration of God's love through health care, highlighting the health care needs of the poor in a community, and role modeling for health-care students, professionals and other volunteers. He served as its charter chairman and president until 1988 and continues to serve as medical director and treasurer. The missions to Mexico continued until 1996, with up to 80 members making up eight physician-led medical teams.

In 1995 he and Michele developed a weekly noontime clinic to address the great need for medical care among the growing population of homeless in Galveston. With the support of the Luke Society, they began driving their van full of medicine to a downtown parking lot where free meals were served to the homeless each Saturday morning. The Luke Society changed its focus to the local poor instead of the Mexican poor. The number of patients has grown from eight to an average of 50 each week. Physicians provide patients with evaluation and treatment, screening for tuberculosis, and immunizations, coordinating care with other charitable organizations and public health agencies.

The work of the Luke Society is accomplished entirely through devoted volunteers and contributors, including pharmacists, physicians, nurses, lawyers, accountants, and others. Since the first mission, there have been 25,000 patient encounters in Mexico and over 12,000 in Galveston. All of the care is provided free of charge, thanks to generous contributors. Many hundreds of health-care professionals have experienced the joy of volunteerism, the needs of the homeless have been demonstrated to the entire community, and thousands of modern day lepers know that God loves them.

Dr. Zaunbrecher's professional career spans a quarter century of private and public care, administrative medicine, and community service. He maintains his joy in his profession through one on one, personal contact with people in need, and most of all with those patients who are the most vulnerable in our society.

On behalf of his many friends, colleagues, and the thousands of patients who have been the recipient of his generous spirit and benevolent care, the Texas Chapter of the ACP-ASIM is proud to name Dr. Zaunbrecher as a recipient of the Texas Chapter Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

 

Edith Irby Jones, MD
Dr. Edith Irby Jones was born near Conway, Arkansas, and lived her early years in nearby Hot Springs. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, Biology, and Physics at Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tennessee, where her childhood dreams of becoming a physician were nurtured and pursued. Prior to entering medical school she also studied clinical psychology at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.

In 1952, Dr. Jones was awarded the Doctor of Medicine degree by the University of Arkansas School of Medicine, becoming its first black graduate. After an internship in Pediatrics, she returned to Hot Springs where she practiced general medicine until her keen interest in adult medicine led her and her family to Houston, where she completed her training in Internal Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine.

In 1986, at the invitation of the Haitian government, she led a fourteen member U.S. Task Force on Health to Haiti to observe the medical and healthcare infrastructure, and highlight problems and potential solutions in that tiny impoverished Caribbean nation. The task force reported to the U.S. State Department and to the President of the United States that the status of medical and healthcare in Haiti was indeed deplorable. Trained medical personnel were in short supply; buildings obsolete; equipment scarce and outdated; supplies inadequate and facilities overcrowded.

Upon her return home, the idea was born to create a health facility in the town of Vaudreuil to provide adult, pediatric, dental and obstetrical care. Dr. Jones returned to Haiti several times over the next few years to build community and governmental support for establishment of a clinic, and chaired Health Education Learning Projects, Inc., the non-profit organization under whose auspices the clinic would be established. In recognition of her tireless efforts, the clinic was officially dedicated and opened in 1992 as the Edith Irby Jones Health Clinic. Her involvement with the clinic continues today as she visits Haiti four to five times a year to provide direct medical care in the clinic, and enhance governmental and foundation support.

Dr. Jones is also passionate about the Edith Irby Jones Foundation, established in the early 1990s, to provide scholarships for aspiring college and graduate students. As the recipient of generous scholarship assistance during medical school and college, she is mindful of the financial barriers that can prevent talented young men and women, without significant means, from realizing their dreams of careers in medicine, the sciences, business, and the arts.

In a remarkable medical career practicing general internal medicine in inner city Houston, Edy, as she is known to her friends and colleagues, has been widely recognized locally, nationally and internationally for her steadfast and passionate involvement in numerous charitable, civic and social service organizations over her long and illustrious career. As the first woman president of the 15,000 member National Medical Association (NMA), she brought her message of service and caring to the halls of Congress and from coast to coast. For this and a number of other contributions to medicine and community, she was recognized as the 1988 Internist of the Year by the American Society of Internal Medicine.

When asked, Edy articulates her philosophy of service in this way. "When we give of ourselves unselfishly, we receive our blessings in multiples. Therefore, if for no other reason than to provide for the safety and well being of our loved ones, which is most basic, we have no alternative but to help our fellow man. Without regard for your individual belief system or religious denomination, it is the wish of the creator, and the way the universe works, so it must become the nature of man. We have no other sensible choice."

We join many others both near and far in honoring the life and work of Dr. Edith Irby Jones - internist, educator, philanthropist, scholar, committed servant, and change agent - as the recipient of the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine's first ever Chapter Volunteerism and Community Service Award.