Fort Bend Medical Society Alliance

The Fort Bend Medical Society Alliance is alive and kicking. For the past ten years, the Fort Bend Alliance members share a unified purpose in the outreach they provide in the community and that purpose is the W.A.T.C.H. program.

 

The W.A.T.C.H. program is a TMA Alliance initiative to educate the community about heart health. W.A.T.C.H. is a program created in response to the alarming increase in obesity and childhood diabetes among Texas children. The letters in W.A.T.C.H. each stand for one of the 5 major risk factors for heart attack and stroke. These risk factors are: Weight, Activity, Tobacco, Cholesterol and High blood pressure.

 

In observance of W.A.T.C.H week in Fort Bend ISD, a Health Fair was held at the Sugar Land Town Square on Saturday, March 6, 2010. It kicked off a week-long focus on all aspects of cardiovascular health. Nurses, physical education teachers and librarians all promoted the program. All Fort Bend Independent School District schools participated in a variety of ways – morning messages, marquee announcements, contests, walking logs, posters, bookmarks and sticker giveaways, and school-led activities that underline the message of awareness and prevention. We encourage anyone who is interested to take this program into their private schools.

 

If you would like to be involved in W.A.T.C.H. and be a member of the Alliance, please contact Vijay Bhucher at vijaybhuchar@hotmail.com or (281) 980-3332. Membership is open to physicians, spouses of physicians and medical students eligible to be members of the TMA. The spouse of the Alliance member does not have to be a member of the Medical Society.

 

 

Texas Medical Association Alliance

What is the Texas Medical Association Alliance?

• We’re physician, resident and medical student spouses.
• We’re nearly 7,000 members strong.
• Organized in 1918, we are one of the oldest volunteer groups in the state.
• We’re a diverse volunteer force of men and women who partner with the Texas Medical Association to improve the health of all Texans.

What does the Texas Medical Association Alliance do?

• We work in communities across Texas to make a difference for the family of medicine and for the citizens of Texas.
• We serve as grassroots advocates for medicine and the patients of Texas through our First Tuesdays at the Capitol legislative visit program. Our efforts in tandem with Texas physicians to pass Proposition 12 in 2003 have yielded nearly $328 million in savings on medical liability insurance premiums.
• We work to elect medicine-friendly candidates to our state legislature and to Congress getting out the vote, conducting voter registration drives, and by working in campaigns.
• We conduct local health fairs to help immunize Texas children through our Be Wise Immunize^SM campaign. Since its inception in 2004, the Be Wise program is responsible for more than 104,000 immunizations being administered to Texas children.
• We also protect our state’s children through the Hard Hats for Little Heads program. To date, we have distributed more than 40,000 bicycle helmets to Texas youths.
• We work in collaboration with other health-related organizations to educate Texans about making sound health decisions.
• We raise funds to support medical education.
• Perhaps the most important service we provide is building a network of medical families across Texas who understands the challenges of the practice of medicine.

How do I join the Alliance?

Contact Judy Julian at the Texas Medical Association Alliance Office in Austin at judy.julian@texmed.org or by calling (800) 880-1300, extension 1331.

www.alliance.texmed.org