Congratulations on your choice of family medicine for your residency training! Throughout your residency, you will be building the knowledge and the skills that you will need to provide high quality, comprehensive and continuous care for patients and their families. You will also be preparing to become a board-certified family physician. Being a board-certified family physician demonstrates to your patients and colleagues that you are committed to providing high-quality health care that people trust. We are proud to be your partner in lifelong learning and professionalism and to assist you in meeting the requirements for Family Medicine Certification (FMC).
There are four components of Family Medicine Certification, which include the following:
- Professionalism: Evidence of professional standing and licensure
- Self-Assessment & Lifelong Learning: Evidence of a commitment to lifelong continuous learning and involvement in a periodic self-assessment process
- Cognitive Expertise: Evidence of current knowledge through testing
- Performance Improvement: Evidence of participation in quality improvement activities in practice
ABFM provides you with an individual MyABFM Portfolio to access the required activities for your initial entry into the certification process, as well as track your ongoing process toward continuous certification over your practice lifetime. You will have access to your MyABFM Portfolio to utilize these tools after your residency program has entered your information into the Resident Training Management (RTM) system.
Residency Training Guidelines
Program Directors are responsible for conducting their residency training programs in compliance with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Institutional Requirements and the Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Family Medicine.
Your Program Director should periodically review these requirements with faculty, staff, and residents. Any variance from the Program Requirements for Residency Education in Family Medicine, or failure to comply with ABFM requirements for Family Medicine Certification, places your ability to qualify for the Family Medicine Certification Examination at risk. If you have any questions regarding compliance with these requirements, please discuss with your Program Director, ACGME or ABFM.
