RESEARCH AT ABFM

"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.

Context: As the average level of medical education indebtedness rises, physicians look to loan repayment programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Objective To test whether differences in hospital interoperability are related to the extent to which hospitals treat groups that have been economically and socially marginalized. Data Sources and Study Setting Data on 2393 non-federal acute care hospitals in the United States from the American Hospital Association Information Technology Supplement fielded in 2021, the 2019 Medicare Cost Report, and the 2019 Social Deprivation Index. Study Design Cross-sectional analysis.

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.

Little is known about how rural and urban family medicine residencies compare in preparing physicians for practice. This study compared the perceptions of preparation for practice and actual postgraduation scope of practice (SOP) between rural and urban residency program graduates.

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).

Electronic health records (EHRs) have been connected to excessive workload and physician burnout. Little is known about variation in physician experience with different EHRs, however.

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.