October 2025

October 2025

President’s Message: Enduring Commitments in a Time of Change

In these times of dramatic change and bitter partisanship, one constant remains – the steadfast commitment of family physicians to their patients and communities with compassion and commitment to excellence. We hear daily about the challenges you face, from patients and communities at risk to increased need for care and rapid changes in the organization of practices.  So, as we near the end of 2025, I want to take a moment to recognize the incredible work that you are each doing across the country. Thank you for remaining the cornerstone of health care, adapting thoughtfully while never losing sight of what is important. Your commitment to patients, communities, life-long learning, and professional development continues to inspire us at the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM). In this issue of the Phoenix, we are excited to share several important updates and initiatives designed to support your journey and reduce burden. Read the full President’s Message here

In Case You Missed It: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration Now Available

Registration for the 5-Year Cycle is available for ABFM Diplomates who will begin the new certification process in 2026. Is Your Next Exam Due in 2026? If your next exam is due in 2026, registration will be accessible in your MyABFM Portfolio when all your current stage requirements have been completed. Instead of taking the traditional one-day exam in 2026, you’ll instead start Family Medicine Certification Longitudinal Assessment (FMCLA), the 25 question per quarter exam alternative that serves as the foundation of the 5-Year Cycle. Did You Gain Initial Certification or Complete the Re-Entry Process in 2025? If you passed the April 2025 one-day exam and gained your initial certification or completed the Re-Entry process to regain your certification, registration for the 5-Year Cycle is now accessible in your MyABFM Portfolio.  Read more

Introducing the new CKSA Mobile Experience

ABFM is excited to announce the launch of the MyABFM Mobile App, a significant step forward in simplifying how you access your ABFM certification requirements. Designed with you in mind, this new mobile app provides a convenient and efficient way to stay informed about your certification status and required activities. Read more

ABFM Announces New Health Equity Activities

ABFM is pleased to announce five new health equity-focused certification activities. Developed in conjunction with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), these new Health Equity: Leading the Change activities are designed to help family physicians assess their knowledge of health disparities and the underlying causes. Read more

Earn PI Credit for Work You Are Already Doing

As a family physician, you are continuously working to improve care for your patients, whether it’s increasing screening rates, enhancing patient education, improving patient satisfaction, streamlining workflows, or refining treatment and management approaches. ABFM makes it easy to earn performance improvement (PI) credit and CME for the work you’re already doing through the Self-Directed Clinical PI Activity. Read more

Reducing Burden, Rewarding Impact: PRIME Registry Can Fulfill Performance Improvement Activity

The ABFM PRIME Registry now offers a game-changing benefit: your CMS improvement activities automatically count for ABFM performance improvement (PI) credit. No duplicate work, no redundant documentation – just recognition for the quality improvement you’re already doing. The Problem Solved Many family physicians participate in Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or MIPS Value Pathways, submitting improvement activities that demonstrate their commitment to better patient care. Previously, these same activities had to be re-documented separately for ABFM Performance Improvement credit—creating unnecessary administrative burden. Read more

Your Voice Matters: Join the ABFM Engagement Network

At ABFM, we know that board certification should reflect the realities of your practice and provide value throughout your career. That’s why we’ve created the ABFM Engagement Network – a new way for you to share your voice and help shape the future of certification. As a Diplomate, you’ll have opportunities to participate in surveys, focus groups, interviews, and beta testing, and the option to be part of our Higher Standard physician campaign. Your input will directly guide how we improve certification activities, making them more relevant, meaningful, and supportive of the work you do every day. Read more

Pisacano Leadership Foundation Announces 2025 Scholars

The Board of Directors of the Pisacano Leadership Foundation (PLF) is pleased to announce its selections for the 2025 Pisacano Scholarship. The scholarship, valued at up to $28,000, is awarded to U.S. medical students who demonstrate a strong commitment to the specialty of family medicine. As health care has transformed over the last few years, and the need for family medicine leadership has increased, the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) funded a doubling of the number of Pisacano scholars. Read more

Kirsten Austad, MD, MPH, and Jonathan Staloff, MD, MSc, Selected as 2025 NAM Puffer/ABFM Fellows

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has selected Kirsten Austad and Jonathan Staloff as the 2025 James C. Puffer, MD/American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Fellows. As NAM Fellows, Drs. Austad and Staloff will each receive a flexible research grant to further their respective careers. Named in honor of James C. Puffer, MD, president and chief executive officer emeritus of ABFM, the fellowship program enables talented, early-career health policy and science scholars in family medicine to participate in the work of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and further their careers as future leaders in the field. Read more

Read the Latest ABFM Research

Check out ABFM’s latest research below and in our research library, or follow us on LinkedIn where we regularly highlight research relevant to family medicine. ABFM conducts research devoted to creating, evaluating, and maintaining cutting edge certification methods and advancing the scientific basis of family medicine. The ABFM studies listed below offer important findings that can inform policy and practice for the betterment of family medicine, including social determinants of health, how the timing of certification stage completion or knowledge self-assessment engagement affects outcomes, and AI/ML research in primary care. We also extend our congratulations to Annie Koempel, a valued member of ABFM’s research team, for receiving this year’s best paper award from the Family Practice journal, for her paper, “I consider myself to be a leader”: a qualitative exploration of early career women family physicians’ intentions to assume a leadership role.  Read more

Factbook 2.0 – Coming Soon!

In 2023, ABFM published the Family Medicine Factbook, a compilation of data received from the ABFM’s regular surveys of family physicians across multiple points in their training and practice careers, during and shortly after residency training completion, and after completion of continuous certification cycles from January 1, 2016, to January 1, 2022. We are excited to announce that Family Medicine Factbook 2.0 will be published in the spring of 2026! Read more