The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) recently announced the elections of 90 regular members and 10 international members at its annual meeting. Election to the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.  


ABFM recently announced several changes approved by its Board of Directors to reduce the fees associated with maintaining certification, which are effective immediately. The annual fee for ABFM Continuing Certification will remain at $200 per year. This fee has not changed since 2012, when it was reduced from $235 per year to $200 per year. Additionally, new changes listed below offer lower associated costs for participation in Family Medicine Certification:


Dr LeRoyThe American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) is pleased to announce the selection of Gary Lewis LeRoy, MD, FAAFP, as its new Senior Vice President for Diplomate Experience beginning November 1, 2022.

Dr. LeRoy’s primary initial focus as Senior Vice President will be to improve the Diplomate experience with Board certification; lead ABFM engagement efforts with both Diplomates and collaborating organizations; oversee strategy for communications and outreach efforts; and provide physician staff support for the professionalism aspects of board certification. Utilizing in-person, virtual, and digital approaches, Dr. LeRoy will build on aspects of ABFM’s Strategic Plan that focus on continually improving the value of Board certification and supporting Diplomates throughout their participation in initial and continuing certification.


On behalf of ABFM, we are pleased to share the following news release from Menzies School of Health Research featuring a recent article, Family Medicine Residencies: How Rural Training Exposure in GME is Associated With Subsequent Rural Practice, involving ABFM collaborators.

New research which links the amount of training time spent in rural areas during their residencies with the odds of Family Physicians working in rural and remote areas has today been published in the American Journal of Graduate Medical Education.


The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has selected Alicia Cohen and Ruchi M. Fitzgerald as the 2022 James C. Puffer, MD/American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Fellows.


The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Foundation is pleased to announce its inaugural class of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) grant recipients. The award winners were selected following a rigorous review and scoring process by an external AI/ML expert review panel.


ABFM respects all family physicians, and we acknowledge that different but deeply principled beliefs about abortion guide the manner in which they provide care to their patients and communities.


The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) is pleased to announce the election of four new officers and three new board members. The new officers elected at the ABFM spring board meeting in April are: Lauren S. Hughes, MD, MPH, MSc, FAAFP of Aurora, Colorado as Chair; Gerardo Moreno, MD of Los Angeles, California as Chair-Elect; Daniel Spogen, MD, of Reno, Nevada as Treasurer; and Bob Wergin, MD, of Milford, Nebraska as Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee.  


The COVID-19 pandemic caused massive disruption in health care delivery, including a significant reduction in in-person primary care office visits that remained below pre-pandemic levels for months. Rapid changes were required in family medicine practices, to not only safely meet patient needs, but to also protect the physicians and their staff.


In this month’s issue of Annals of Family Medicine, Robert Phillips, MD, MSPH, addresses three responses from U.S. and Canadian primary care research groups to the 2021 National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report, Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care.


The graduate medical education (GME) system trains most of the nation’s physicians and receives nearly $19 billion annually to do so. It is heavily subsidized by the public in return for producing physicians that meet society’s needs. However, institutions receiving public funding face potential conflicts of interest, that have prioritized institutional purposes over societal needs.