Texas Osteopathic Medical Association (TOMA)

The Texas Osteopathic Medical Association (TOMA) is the oldest statewide Osteopathic Medical Association in the nation. Founded in 1900, this society serves over 1,400 osteopathic physicians and trainees across the state of Texas.

The nonprofit, Austin-based Texas Osteopathic Medical Association was formally organized by five osteopathic physicians on November 29, 1900, in Sherman, Texas, under the name, Texas Association for the Advancement of Osteopathy. At the organizational meeting David L. Clark, D.O., of Sherman was elected president with an initial state membership of approximately ten; a constitution was adopted; and, first officers were elected. The association was formed because of the Wilson Bill, then pending in the state legislature, which threatened the osteopathic profession, along with occult or unorthodox practitioners. Cecil Smith, a former senator from Sherman, was hired to lobby against the bill, and an amendment protecting the profession was adopted. The first Texas Medical Practice Act, passed in 1907, permitted the licensing of doctors of osteopathy. John F. Bailey, D.O., of Waco was appointed by Governor Thomas M. Campbell as the first osteopathic physician on the composite State Board of Medical Examiners. In 1901, during the group's second meeting in Fort Worth, the name was changed to Texas Osteopathic Association. The name was changed again in 1930 to Texas Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, and the association was first incorporated in 1946 in Dallas County. Its purpose was to support the science of osteopathic medicine. On September 14, 1971, the name was changed to Texas Osteopathic Medical Association.