Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ARTICLES
    • Current Issue
    • Ahead of Print
    • Archives
    • Abstracts In Press
    • Special Issue Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • INFO FOR
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Call For Papers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • SUBMIT
    • Manuscript
    • Peer Review
  • ABOUT
    • The JABFM
    • Editorial Board
    • Indexing
    • Editors' Blog
  • CLASSIFIEDS
  • Other Publications
    • abfm

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
American Board of Family Medicine
  • Other Publications
    • abfm
American Board of Family Medicine

American Board of Family Medicine

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ARTICLES
    • Current Issue
    • Ahead of Print
    • Archives
    • Abstracts In Press
    • Special Issue Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • INFO FOR
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Call For Papers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • SUBMIT
    • Manuscript
    • Peer Review
  • ABOUT
    • The JABFM
    • Editorial Board
    • Indexing
    • Editors' Blog
  • CLASSIFIEDS
  • JABFM On Twitter
  • JABFM On YouTube
  • JABFM On Facebook
Brief ReportPolicy Brief

A Significant Number of Charter Diplomates Participate in American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Maintenance of Certification

James C. Puffer
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine July 2015, 28 (4) 439-440; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2015.04.150032
James C. Puffer
the American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, KY.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Considerable controversy about the value of participating in Maintenance of Certification has recently arisen within the medical community. Despite this controversy, large numbers of family physicians certified by the American Board of Family Medicine participate in Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians. Surprisingly, a small but significant number of charter diplomates—those initially certified by the American Board of Family Medicine at its founding—are engaged in the process.

  • Certification
  • Health Policy

When the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) was approved as the 19th medical specialty board in the United States by the American Board of Medical Specialties in 1969, its founding fathers established several important principles that would govern certification in the specialty. Perhaps the most important of these were 2 critical decisions. First, no one would be grandfathered into the specialty; a family physician, regardless of experience or time in practice, could become certified only by passing an initial certification examination. Second, every physician earning certification would be issued a time-limited certificate and would be required to recertify at least every 7 years.1 Those 1690 family physicians who certified in 1970 and the 1595 who earned certification in 1971 were considered to be charter diplomates of the ABFM.

Many have recently criticized the value of Maintenance of Certification (MOC), and physicians in many specialties have made the decision not to participate.2 Despite this fact, participation in MOC for family physicians (MC-FP) by family physicians remains robust.3,4 Using ABFM administrative data, we wanted to determine the number of charter diplomates who were still meeting the requirements of MC-FP more than 40 years after their initial certification.

Thirty-nine diplomates (2.3%) certified in 1970 remain engaged in MC-FP, and 53 charter diplomates (3.3%) certified in 1971 are similarly meeting MC-FP requirements (Figure 1). Those participating charter diplomates from the 1970 cohort range in age from 72 to 94 years of age, with a mean age of 79 years. Those family physicians in the 1971 cohort still participating in MC-FP range in age from 70 to 87 years, with a mean age of 74 years. On average, the charter diplomates in these cohorts have taken the ABFM examination 6 times, and a few have taken it on 7 occasions.

Figure 1.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
Figure 1.

Charter diplomates initially certified in 1970 or 1971 still participating in Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP).

Despite the challenges that many specialties are facing with regard to the implementation of MOC, participation in this process by board-certified family physicians has been consistent with the historic participation rates seen in the ABFM's original recertification paradigm.5 Participation in MC-FP by those charter diplomates initially certified over 40 years ago serves as testimony to the wisdom demonstrated by ABFM's founders when they established the tenets that would guide the certification process of the specialty.

Notes

  • This article was externally peer reviewed.

  • Funding: none.

  • Conflict of interest: JCP is an employee of the American Board of Family Medicine.

  • Received for publication January 21, 2015.
  • Revision received April 1, 2015.
  • Accepted for publication April 7, 2015.

References

  1. 1.↵
    1. Green LA,
    2. Puffer JC
    . Family medicine at forty years of age: the journey to transformation continues. J Am Board Fam Med 2010;23(Suppl):S1–4.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  2. 2.↵
    1. Teirstein PS
    . Boarded to death–why maintenance of certification is bad for doctors and patients. N Engl J Med 2015;373:106–7.
    OpenUrl
  3. 3.↵
    1. Puffer JC,
    2. Bazemore AW,
    3. Newton W,
    4. Makaroff L,
    5. Xierali IM,
    6. Green LA
    . Engagement of family physicians seven years into maintenance of certification. J Am Board Fam Med 2011;24:483–4.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  4. 4.↵
    1. Puffer JC,
    2. Bazemore AW,
    3. Jaen CR,
    4. Xierali IM,
    5. Phillips RL,
    6. Jones SM
    . Engagement of family physicians in maintenance of certification remains high. J Am Board Fam Med 2012;25:761–2.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  5. 5.↵
    1. Puffer JC,
    2. Bazemore AW,
    3. Phillips RL,
    4. Beebe DK
    . Certification status of family physicians in the initial cohort entering maintenance of certification. J Am Board Fam Med 2014;27:581–2.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of the American Board of Family     Medicine: 28 (4)
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
Vol. 28, Issue 4
July-August 2015
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Cover (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Board of Family Medicine.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
A Significant Number of Charter Diplomates Participate in American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Maintenance of Certification
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Board of Family Medicine
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Board of Family Medicine web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
14 + 2 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
A Significant Number of Charter Diplomates Participate in American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Maintenance of Certification
James C. Puffer
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Jul 2015, 28 (4) 439-440; DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2015.04.150032

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
A Significant Number of Charter Diplomates Participate in American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Maintenance of Certification
James C. Puffer
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Jul 2015, 28 (4) 439-440; DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2015.04.150032
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Notes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Timely and/or Controversial Information for Family Physicians
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Female Family Physicians Are More Racially Diverse Than Their Male Counterparts in Federal Sites
  • Pandemic Disruption in Residency Did Not Alter Trends in Intended Scope of Practice
  • Family Physician Racial Identity: An Analysis of “Other” Race Selection and Implications for Future Data Collection
Show more Policy Brief

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • Certification
  • Health Policy

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues

Authors & Reviewers

  • Info For Authors
  • Info For Reviewers
  • Submit A Manuscript/Review

Other Services

  • Get Email Alerts
  • Classifieds
  • Reprints and Permissions

Other Resources

  • Forms
  • Contact Us
  • ABFM News

© 2023 American Board of Family Medicine

Powered by HighWire