The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Research Department places a high priority on research that measures the impact of Family Medicine Certification (FMC) on the quality of care that family physicians provide to the public. The department has also intentionally broadened the scope of research to clearly understand the environment in which family physicians deliver health care and how factors such as health care market forces, practice organization, social deprivation, and health care policy may influence a family physician’s ability to provide high quality care to the public. 

The ABFM research team is excited to collaborate with your organization to further the ABFM mission. 

If you are interested in collaborating on a research project with ABFM or would like to request the use of ABFM data, please submit your proposal to Lars Peterson, Senior Physician Scientist, at [email protected].

Proposals should focus on Family Medicine Certification and health care quality. However, other projects that are highly relevant to the specialty of family medicine will be considered based on their merits. 


Past External Collaboration Projects 

Investigator(s) Project

Patricia A. Carney, PhD and Patrice Eiff, MD

Interest in Pursuing a Fourth Year of Family Medicine Residency Training

Sebastian Tong, MD

Residency Characteristics Associated with Intention to Provide Obstetrical Care

Sebastian Tong, MD

Residency Characteristics Associated with Early Career Family Physicians Prescribing Buprenorphine

Kevin Grumbach, MD

Patient Engagement in Family Physicians’ Practices; Burnout and Practice’s Ability to Address Social Determinants

Peter Carek, MD, MS

Outcomes of Community and Academic Based Residency Programs

Data Commons Correlation of Multiple Examination Assessments Throughout Family Medicine Training

CAFM Educational Research Alliance (CERA)

CERA ABFM National Family Medicine Residency Outcomes Study

Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM)

Faculty for Tomorrow Evaluation

Montgomery Douglas, MD

Distribution and Practice Characteristics of Racial and Ethnic Minority Family Physicians

Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD

Primary Care Supply and Mortality; Social Determinants of Health

Jeanne Cawse-Lucas, MD

Gender of Family Medicine Authors

Davis Patterson, PhD Availability of Obstetric Workforce Services in Rural America
Diane Rittenhouse, MD Electronic Health Record Functionality and Advanced Primary Care Features
Larry Casalino, MD Burnout and Costs and Quality of Care in Medicare
Chris Salyers, DHSc Family Physicians in Appalachia
Martha Riddle, DrPH, MPH Electronic Health Record Functionality in Kentucky and surrounding states
Rural PREP / WWAMI Evaluation of Family Medicine Rural Residency Training
Rural PREP / WWAMI Rural Residency Match Rates
Patricia A. Carney, PhD and Patrice Eiff, MD ITE Scores for Length of Training Evaluation
Peter Carek, MD, MS Do Doximity Rankings Correlate to Graduates’ Outcomes?
John Freedy, MD, PhD Representativeness of CERA resident survey
Diane Rittenhouse, MD Physicians in Independent Practice