Photography by stephen elledge
When orthopedic surgeon Dr. C. Bruce Malone and his wife were looking for a place to establish their home and his medical practice in the mid-1970s, they had three criteria.
"We wanted to live somewhere in the South with a university and about 350,000 people,” Malone said. “So we started looking around, and Austin was one of those. We also had job offers in Charlotte, N.C., and Charleston, S.C. We chose Austin, and I've never regretted it."
Malone's practice at the Austin Bone and Joint Clinic flourished, and so did his involvement in the Texas Medical Association (TMA), the 108-year-old association that represents more than 45,000 Texas doctors and medical students and works to fulfill its mission to improve the health of all Texans. In fact, his participation in TMA and service on many of its committees culminate in May when he becomes its president at the group's annual convention in Houston.
"This honor carries with it a strong responsibility to the patients of Texas," Malone said when the TMA House of Delegates, the association's policy-making body, chose him as the next president. "We are preparing for huge changes in the way health care is delivered, while trying to maintain the excellence in science, technology and innovation that has been the hallmark of U.S. medicine."
His goal as TMA president is to continue the association’s tradition of working for patients and the physicians who care for them. He knows he and TMA face major challenges this year. One of them is helping patients and doctors adjust to the new health care system created by the reform bill Congress passed last year.
"We're advocates for the 27 million people who live in Texas as patients,” Malone said. “I hope we can emphasize the importance of the doctor-patient relationship while we have so much turmoil because of health reform. Right now, there is confusion on the part of doctors, and there is significant confusion on the part of patients about what's going to happen.
“If we lose the ability of the patient to interact with the doctor and to decide what's best for that patient's care one-on-one without interference by corporations or bureaucracy, we've lost the heart of American medicine."
Another challenge is convincing Congress to eliminate an unfair Medicare payment system that threatens to make it difficult for senior citizens to find a doctor to treat them. The current system may force physicians to stop seeing Medicare patients not because they want to, but because payments they receive from Medicare for treating patients often do not cover the cost of running their practice. As a result, many simply cannot afford to continue caring for Medicare beneficiaries.
Led by Malone, TMA is working with state and national medical organizations across the country to persuade the federal government to establish a system that treats patients and physicians fairly, as well as protects the access to health care of elderly patients, active duty patients and the families of retired military personnel on TRICARE, a secondary insurance to Medicare.
Even with those and other challenges, Malone knows doctors are "very fortunate to have patients share part of their lives with us. That's what's unique about our profession. That's what gives us the most reward in the end."
Born the only child of an aerospace industrial engineer, this Nashville native grew up in Fort Worth and Arlington. After graduating from Arlington High School, he went to Harvard. Then, inspired by an uncle who was a physician in West Virginia, he chose a career in medicine, earning a medical degree from the Duke University School of Medicine.
He completed his internship and residency in orthopedic surgery at Case Western Reserve University Hospitals in Cleveland, and served as a major in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps in Washington.
When he's not treating patients or taking part in TMA activities, Malone's life revolves around his two grandchildren in Sydney, Australia.
"I just want to be part of their lives, so I travel to Australia or they travel here as much as I can possibly arrange," he said. "My wife and I are pretty dedicated to that. I used to play golf, but I'm not sure I even remember how to swing the club now; but I won't give that up because I've been playing since I was 11 years old. I do enjoy bird hunting. I don't hunt anything with four legs. Wing shooting to me is an incredible sport, and if I have an opportunity [for] that, I do it."
Malone says his career as an orthopedic surgeon has been personally rewarding.
"We've had amazing technology develop over my orthopedic lifetime, and the things we do have such value to people, and they really have good outcomes,” he said. It's fun to be part of that.
“I have patients tell me almost every month that they're so happy with what's happened to them after their joint replacement. They even say to me, ‘It must be really wonderful to be able to do this and help people.’ The answer is it really is. It is a wonderful privilege."
For more information, please call the Texas Medical Association at 512-370-1300. You may also visit the association online at www.texmed.org.
