The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) is pleased to announce the selection of Elizabeth G. (Libby) Baxley, MD, to become its next Senior Vice President beginning July 1, 2018.

As Senior Vice President, Dr. Baxley’s major initial focus will be to lead all aspects of ABFM activity that relate to the experience of board certified family physicians with ABFM, including residency, the early clinical years, credentials, and communications.

“A first priority of our efforts is engagement of diplomates as we work to make Family Medicine Certification as valuable as possible,” commented Warren Newton, MD, MPH, President and CEO Elect of the American Board of Family Medicine. “Dr. Baxley’s dedication to the discipline of family medicine and her passion for education will prove invaluable as she works with diplomates to evolve the process of continuing certification. I am pleased that she has accepted the challenge to enhance all aspects of diplomate experience with the ABFM.”

A graduate of Clemson University, Dr. Baxley received a Doctor of Medicine from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. She completed a family medicine residency at Anderson Family Practice Residency in South Carolina followed by the Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She is currently the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Family Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, where she has served since May 2012. In that role, she led a pioneering curriculum redesign with an emphasis on integration of training in health system science competencies: patient safety, quality improvement, population health, and interprofessional education. Brody was one of only 11 medical schools nationally to be selected by the AMA in their Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative. Prior to that she spent 18 years at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, serving as Family Medicine Residency Director, school-wide Director of Faculty Development, and Chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. Her work has focused heavily on health care delivery system redesign and teaching about patient safety and quality improvement. A faculty advisor for IHI Open School chapters at both USC and Brody SOM, she is also one of the co-founders of the I3 Collaborative, which has led residency practice redesign in primary care teaching practices across South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Dr. Baxley has an outstanding track record of leadership in Family Medicine, having taught and provided full-scope family medicine throughout the greater part of her 31-year career. In addition to her roles as a prior board member and board chair of the American Academy of Family Physician’s (AAFP) Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO®) and the AAFP’s Residency Assistance Program Panel of Consultants, she served on the ABFM Board of Directors from 2013-2018. During her tenure on the board, she served on the certification, credentials, examination, and research and development committees, the latter of which she chaired. She became a member of the executive committee in 2016 after her election as Chair Elect and finished her final year on the board of directors as the Board Chair.

Dr. Baxley has been honored with many distinctions including the American Academy of Family Physicians Exemplary Teaching Award and the James Halford Award for Leadership in Humane Education. In 2017 she was recognized by East Carolina University with a Woman of Distinction Award, and in 2016 and 2018 received the American Medical Women’s Association Gender Equity Award from medical students at Brody SOM.

“This is a critical time in history for physicians to engage in meaningful dialogue around professional self-regulation and the value proposition of board certification,” said Baxley. “The ABFM board members and the professional staff in Lexington, Kentucky are committed to serving as partners with diplomates to demonstrate mastery and quality of care provided by family physicians throughout the US. I am excited about the prospect of working closely with individual physicians and family medicine organizations in an effort to enhance the value of family medicine certification into the future.”