Click below to learn about the 5 areas of ABFM research
Publications Library
"Background and objectives: The quality of training in rural family medicine (FM) residencies has been questioned. Our objective was to assess differences in academic performance between rural and urban FM residencies. Methods: We used American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) data from 2016-2018 residency graduates. Medical knowledge was measured by the ABFM in-training examination (ITE) and Family Medicine Certification Examination (FMCE). The milestones included 22 items across six core competencies.
Context: Rising prevalence of both mental health and substance use disorders, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, have left many individuals with limited access to behavioral health care. Integrating behavioral health into primary care has been shown to increase behavioral healthcare access and improve outcomes.
In 2021, the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Implementing High-Quality Primary Care published its recommendations to expand the provision of high-quality primary care in the USA. These include paying for primary care teams to care for people, ensuring that high-quality primary care is available, training primary care teams where people live and work, and designing information technology that serves the patient, family, and care team. Many of these recommendations echo those of prior calls for action, including the Institute of Medicine’s 1996 report.
While the overall proportion of family physicians who work in solo practices has been steadily declining, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian family physicians are more likely to work in these settings. Given their association with high levels of continuity and improved health outcomes, and given patient preference for racial concordance with their physicians, policy makers and payors should consider how to support family physicians in solo practice in the interest of promoting access to and quality of care for ethnic/racial minorities.
Background and objective: The associations between training length and clinical knowledge are unknown. We compared family medicine in-training examination (ITE) scores among residents who trained in 3- versus 4-year programs and to national averages over time. Methods: In this prospective case-control study, we compared the ITE scores of 318 consenting residents in 3-year programs to 243 who completed 4 years of training between 2013 through 2019. We obtained scores from the American Board of Family Medicine.
Background and Objectives: Demand for geriatric care is increasing due to aging population. Trends in maintaining certification in geriatrics are unreported. Our objective was to describe the historic trend of family physicians who certified in geriatric medicine (FPs-GM) since 1988 and to assess differences in practice patterns between FPs-GM and family physicians (FPs). Methods: We performed a retrospective descriptive study using administrative data collected by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM).
In a world marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, civil rights issues, economic struggles, and climate change, the Family Medicine Leadership Council finds hope for the future in the resilience and adaptability shown by family physicians and their teams. Amidst the pandemic, family physicians took on new roles, transitioned to telehealth, and cared for patients under extraordinary circumstances, demonstrating the importance of their versatility and dedication to their communities.
A 2021 article, “Now is our time to act: Why academic medicine must embrace community collaboration as its fourth mission,” by Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) authors, including AAMC president and CEO Dr. David J. Skorton, offers 2 aims that are highly related: community collaboration and health equity. The AAMC’s call to prioritize community collaboration and health equity as pillars of the academic medicine mission echo earlier work on community-oriented primary care (COPC) and an even more robust model that builds on COPC, community-engaged health care (CEHC).
Since the founding of American Board of Family Practice (ABFP) in 1969, there have been major advances in the cognitive sciences of learning, memory retention, and problem solving. How should these insights shape knowledge assessment in ABFM's Board certification portfolio? To help answer this question, ABFM, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) commissioned an independent review of the relevant literature related to Board Certification, providing support with a commitment to relinquish any editorial control.
BACKGROUND: While barriers to care for pregnant patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) have been described, the experiences and challenges of the physicians providing care to these patients are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: To describe the experiences of family physicians providing comprehensive care to pregnant people with OUD and the challenges they face in providing such care.
In January 2021, the Board of Directors of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) decided that emerging priorities in health and health care should become an explicit component of knowledge assessment in the future. ABFM examinations and self-assessment activities are comprised of a balance of items representing the competencies within family medicine. The composition of these self-assessments and the examinations is guided by a “blueprint” that reflects current knowledge expected of every family physician regarding diagnosis and treatment in daily practice.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is to examine diabetes screening and monitoring among Latino individuals as compared with non-Latino White individuals and to better understand how we can use neighborhood data to address diabetes care inequities. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study linked with neighborhood-level Latino subgroup data obtained from the American Community Survey.
BACKGROUND: Disease prevention is a central aspect of primary care practice and is comprised of primary (eg, vaccinations), secondary (eg, screenings), tertiary (eg, chronic condition monitoring), and quaternary (eg, prevention of overmedicalization) levels. Despite rapid digital transformation of primary care practices, digital health interventions (DHIs) in preventive care have yet to be systematically evaluated. OBJECTIVE: This review aimed to identify and describe the scope and use of current DHIs for preventive care in primary care settings.
ABSTRACT Background Since 2011, the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THC GME) program has sought to expand access to care by training residents in safety net settings. Objective To examine impact on physician scope, location, and patient population served using a unique data set. Methods Using 2017-2020 data from the American Board of Family Medicine National Graduate Survey, we compared demographics, practice location, populations served, and scope of practice between graduates of THC GME programs and graduates of other family medicine programs.
Background: Rural US populations face a chronic shortage of physicians and an increasing gap in life expectancy compared to urban US populations, creating a need to understand how to increase residency graduates' desire to practice in such areas. Objective: This study quantifies associations between the amount of rural training during family medicine (FM) residencies and subsequent rural work.
Female physicians earn less than their male counterparts, and many explanatory factors have been offered to account for these differences. An analysis of the 2019 American Board of Family Medicine New Graduate Survey Data demonstrates that women make 16% less than men, regardless of experience or hours worked.
