Helping Family Physicians Keep Up to Date: A Next Step in the Pursuit of Mastery

The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) is exploring the development of an ABFM Journal Club as a part of its continuing certification portfolio. To benchmark this effort, we reviewed the journal article activities of 8 other American Board of Medical Specialties boards. This paper identifies the principles that will drive the design of the optional ABFM lifelong learning and self-assessment activity. Articles for consideration will be identified through an explicit structured search process. A National Journal Club Committee will choose the top 100 articles based on methodologic rigor, generalizability and relevance to family medicine, and potential to change practice. A postactivity assessment instrument will require mastery learning of new clinical findings and support deeper learning, with the goal of supporting personal physicians in keeping up to date and informing shared decision-making.