Nancy W. Dickey to Serve as Texas Legislature’s Doctor for a Day

Texas legislators who feel ill on Feb. 24 can get treatment from a former American Medical Association President. Nancy W. Dickey, M.D., president of The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center and vice chancellor for health affairs for the A&M System, will serve as Family Physician of the Day to the 78th session of the Texas Legislature.
Dr. Dickey will introduced in the House by Rep. Fred Brown and in the Senate by Sen. Steve Ogden, both of the 5th District. With her will be two first-year medical students form the College of Medicine at the A&M Health Science Center. Dr. Dickey’s name will become part of the official legislative record.
“Our legislators essentially volunteer their time to serve us, being paid only a token wage,” Dickey said. “This is a small way to say thank you to them and their staffs. It saves them time by allowing them quick access to care and then, to go all too quickly back to the legislative floor for more work.”
This year marks the 32nd Anniversary of the Family Physician of the Day Program, which has provided a volunteer doctor for every convening of the Texas Legislature since 1971. The program is coordinated and organized by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians (TAFP) and co-sponsored by the Travis County Medical Society, Texas Medical Association, Texas Osteopathic Medical Association, Texas Department of Health and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The family physicians who participate volunteer time way from their practices to staff the Capitol First Aide Station. A TAFP volunteer member is scheduled to be on-call at the first aide station each day of the legislative session and is assisted by the capitol nurse practitioner, Tim Flynn FNP-C, who is on duty full-time there. Dickey said she has been told to bring her prescription pad and doctor’s bag and that the most frequently used medications are antibiotics, antihistamines and decongestants.
The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center provides the state with health education, outreach and research. Its five components located in communities throughout Texas are Baylor College of Dentistry, the College of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Institute of Biosciences and Technology and the School of Rural Public Health.