UMKC School of Medicine alumna Linda Siy, (M.D. ’90) was awarded the 2022 Texas Family Physician of the Year award by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians.
She received the highest honor among Texas family doctors during TAFP’s Annual Session and Primary Care Summit in Grapevine, Texas, on Oct. 29.
Patients and physicians nominate extraordinary family physicians throughout Texas who symbolize excellence and dedication in family medicine each year. A panel of TAFP members chooses only one as the Family Physician of the Year.
“It truly is an honor to join the ranks of those who have received this distinction, and I’m very humbled to be considered with those distinguished colleagues who previously were Family Physicians of the Year,” Siy said while accepting the award.
Siy, a family physician for more than 30 years, practices at John Peter Smith Health Network at the Northeast Medical Home in Tarrant County, a practice she’s been a part of since 1995. She is also a faculty member at the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine, the University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Texas Christian University Burnett School of Medicine.
Throughout her years in organized medicine, Siy has served on many committees and councils for both TAFP and the American Academy and has been president of the TAFP Foundation since 2017. She serves on the Acclaim Multispecialty Group’s Physician Board of Directors and previously served as president of the Tarrant County Medical Society and TAFP’s Tarrant County chapter.
Siy has spent her career in medicine treating her loyal and multi-generational families of patients, many of whom are underserved, suffer from housing and food insecurity and struggle with mental health and substance abuse. Many of her nominators mentioned her willingness to speak up and ask the questions others are too afraid to ask. They also pointed to her dedication to teaching the next generation of family physicians.
“I think what’s kept me in the game for so long at the place where I work now are those rewarding relationships with your patients, with your staff, with your colleagues,” Siy said. “It’s really not a job. It’s a calling.”
