President’s Message: Celebrating the Role of Women in Family Medicine

What a difference a decade makes! In honor of Women’s Health Month, ABFM celebrates dramatic changes in the proportion and role of women in family medicine. ABFM statistics reveal a dramatic increase in the proportion of female family physicians, and now a majority of residents are women.

The story is much richer than proportions. Women now lead across the specialty. Almost 30% of chairs of departments of family medicine are now women, among the highest of clinical specialties. At ABFM, Dr. Lauren Hughes recently completed her term as board chair, just as Dr. Andrea Anderson was recently elected as board chair elect. Dr. Tochi Iroku-Malize is the current president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), Dr. Renee Crichlow is the president of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), succeeding Dr. Linda Myerholtz. Dr. Kristina Diaz is the president of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD), succeeding Dr. Kim Stutzman and will be followed by president-elect Dr. Sarah Cole. Dr. Vivian Ramsden is the president of the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG). Dr. Louito Edje will soon become chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Family Review Committee, and Drs. Marjorie Bowman, Caroline Richardson, and Sarina Schrager serve as the editors of JABFM, Annals of Family Medicine, and Family Medicine, respectively. These remarkable women are making a difference for family medicine — we are all better off for their work.

With the major and increasing role of women in family medicine, issues championed by women — but not limited to women — have come to the fore. In this issue, we highlight the SWIM (Sustaining Women in Medicine) project, an ABFM Foundation funded collaboration with the AAFP’s Robert Graham Center and the California and Illinois Academies of Family Physicians, provoked by ABFM supported research revealing female family physicians are more likely to suffer from burnout, particularly those younger than 40. Unpacking the causes for this, and developing interventions, is critical for us all. Likewise, pay equity is a key area of concern. A study by ABFM researchers published in JABFM last year, Family Medicine’s Gender Pay Gap, found that women make 16% less than men, regardless of years of experience or hours worked.

I am also deeply appreciative of the service of Dr. Elizabeth Baxley, who retires in June. She is another national leader among family physicians. She came to ABFM after a distinguished career as Chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of South Carolina and as Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Brody School of Medicine. In her role as Executive Vice President for ABFM, she filled a new role focused on enhancing Diplomate experience, led outreach to AAFP state chapters, and transformed ABFM Communications, while rethinking our work in Professionalism and substantially improving many of the activities in our MyABFM Portfolio. In each of these roles, she has made a palpable difference to all family physicians. We have all benefitted from her work and deep commitment to the specialty. I am personally grateful and wish her the best of luck.

Family Medicine and the society we serve are in great flux. In this time of rapid change, we are grateful to the women who serve our patients, communities, and the specialty, and guide our path forward.

Warren Newton, MD, MPH
President & CEO