ABFM Family Medicine Certification

Established in 1969 by family physicians, the American Board of Family Medicine’s (ABFM) board certification is a voluntary specialty credential beyond state medical licensure requirements. As the mark of excellence, board certification demonstrates to your patients and the public that you have met specific family medicine residency training requirements and that you are committed to maintaining this high standard throughout your entire career. It demonstrates your professional and personal commitment to meeting the standards of ethics set by your peers, and to lifelong learning, continuous improvement, and assessments of knowledge.

Family medicine certification consists of the following four foundational components which board-certified family physicians are required to continuously demonstrate to maintain their certification:
  • Professionalism
  • Self-Assessment
  • Performance Improvement (PI)
  • Cognitive Expertise

Stay up-to-date with important updates, useful tips, and other resources related to certification and other ABFM initiatives with The Phoenix.

Initial Certification Process

The process for becoming a board-certified family physician begins with a set of initial education and training requirements. Depending on where you are in your medical career, the ABFM offers specific pathways to obtain initial certification.

The initial certification process ends when you have successfully completed all certification entry process requirements as defined by your specific pathway, including passing the initial certification exam, receiving program verification, and obtaining an active, full, and valid medical license. You will then begin participation in the continuous certification process, which includes completing ongoing requirements similar to the initial certification process.

Maintaining Board Certification

Maintaining your board certification includes participating in the continuous certification process. This voluntary process emphasizes your commitment to staying up to date with medical advances through ongoing self-assessment and lifelong learning, practice improvement, continuous measurement of clinical knowledge, and by upholding the standards of professionalism.

The ABFM recently revised the exam blueprint to ensure that exam content better aligns with clinical activities of today’s practicing family physician. The new blueprint is organized into five domains of care based on clinical activities rather than organ systems. All ABFM exams, including the one-day exam and longitudinal assessment, are based on the new blueprint.


Starting in 2025, all ABFM Diplomates will transition to the 5-Year Cycle in the year their next exam requirement is due. The 5-Year Cycle is built on the same four foundational components that make up the current certification process, and includes continuous compliance with ABFM Guidelines for Professionalism, Licensure, and Personal Conduct, completion of certification activities, continuing medical education (CME), and ongoing participation in cognitive assessment.

You never have to take the one-day exam to maintain your certification unless you want to. Instead of applying for the one-day exam, you will start answering 25 quarterly exam questions through the longitudinal assessment. However, if you prefer the one-day exam, you can opt to take it in year four of your 5-Year Cycle.

Similar to the current certification process, you can choose from a variety of self-assessment and PI activities to earn certification points, and submit CME credits you’ve recently completed.

5-Year Cycle Requirements
  1. Certification Exam: Answer 25 quarterly exam questions (longitudinal assessment) or opt to take the one-day exam.
  2. Certification Activities: Earn 60 certification points through self-assessment and PI activities.
  3. CME: Earn and report 50 CME credits annually. A minimum of half of those need to be from activities leading to Division 1 credits.
  4. Professionalism and Licensure: Continuously comply with ABFM’s Guidelines for Professionalism, Licensure, and Personal Conduct, which includes maintaining active, valid, and full license(s) to practice medicine in the United States or Canada.
  5. Annual Fee: Submit annual certification fee.

Learn more by logging into your MyABFM Portfolio today!

Since 2011, ABFM Diplomates have maintained their certification by participating in ongoing 3-year stages and by passing the one-day exam or longitudinal assessment every 10 years. Each 3-year stage includes continuously complying with ABFM Guidelines for Professionalism, Licensure, and Personal Conduct, completing certification activities and CME.

Continuous Certification Requirements
  1. Certification Activities: Earn 50 certification points through self-assessment and PI activities by:
    • Completing a minimum of one (1) self-assessment activity
    • Completing a minimum of one (1) PI activity
    • Completing additional self-assessment, PI, or approved self-assessment alternative activities to reach a total of 50 certification points.
  1. CME: Earn 150 CME credits through ABFM activities and other organizations that issue American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) or American Medical Association approved CME.
  2. Professionalism and Licensure: Continuously comply with ABFM’s Guidelines for Professionalism, Licensure, and Personal Conduct, which includes maintaining a valid, active, and full license to practice medicine in the United States or Canada.
  3. Annual Fee: Submit annual certification fee.
  4. Certification Exam: In the year your next exam is due, you will transition to the 5-Year Cycle. Instead of sitting for the one-day exam you will be enrolled in longitudinal assessment. Those that prefer the one-day exam can do so in year 4 of the 5-Year Cycle.

To view your outstanding certification requirements and learn more about when you’ll transition to the 5-Year Cycle, visit your MyABFM Portfolio!


Your Academy Membership At Work

Your certification means a lot! However, sometimes navigating through the certification process can get a tad confusing, especially if you are doing it on your own for the first time. We understand and the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) is here for you!

The OAFP offers the following programming and resources to assist member-Diplomates in meeting their ABFM certification requirements:



When you report your CME through the AAFP, your reported credits will be sent to the ABFM helping to save you time in meeting your certification requirements.

The OAFP offers the following group KSA programming during the year:

For more information about the OAFP’s KSA programming, please contact Kaitlin McGuffie.


A full list of PI Activity types can be found on the ABFM website; however below are helpful resources created by the OAFP to assist you in completing your certification requirements:

ABFM Certification Planner

Built upon a creative idea submitted by the OAFP, the ABFM has incorporated a helpful questionnaire within your MyABFM Portfolio, located under “My Activities” and “Activity Preferences.”

Once in the “Activity Preferences,” you can click on “View and Edit My Preferences” to fill in details regarding your personal preferences like the type of practice, areas of practice interest, and activity type. After these preferences are saved, the system will provide you with a list of possible activities to complete making it easier to choose an activity that is right for you and your practice.

EasyPI
The OAFP’s EasyPI tool is a peer-reviewed, curated collection of online educational resources that empowers family physicians to complete a self-guided PI project within their practice, earning credit for their efforts. The tool guides users through a structure process:
  1. Review background information about a specific condition
  2. Assess how the information informs patient care
  3. Implement team-based practice changes to enhance patient outcomes.

Upon completing a PI initiative, EasyPI provides clear, step-by-step instructions for submitting the project to the ABFM via its Self-Directed PI Project: Clinical Pathway application. This submission earns Diplomates of the ABFM 20 certification points, fulfills a PI requirement, and translates to 20 CME credits through the AAFP.

Currently, eight topic tracks are available including:
Video Tutorial – Self-Directed PI Project: Clinical Pathway

The ABFM’s Self-Directed PI Project: Clinical Pathway is a terrific way for physician practices of all types and sizes, even the most non-traditional, to capture credit for meaningful change that’s already occurring in practice.

Self-Directed PI Project: Clinical Path activities is available through your MyABFM Portfolio and it allows an individual and up to 9 additional physicians to report customized clinical practice improvement efforts, regardless of the scope of care that is delivered. The application process has been streamlined (averaging ~20 minutes to complete) to require only the necessary information to demonstrate the improvement cycle, measure, intervention and re-measure, and attest to the level of participation in the effort.

This pathway does not require a physician to be in a practice that has a consistent patient population or a broad scope of care. In fact, the benefit of this pathway is that it can be custom tailored to fit any practice type. The activity just needs to be focused on improving some aspect of your practice.

For a step-by-step guide to completing this pathway application, please watch the video below. You can also, review a sample application before beginning your project. Projects must be completed before submitting your application for credit.

Workflow Process Mapping Resources

Workflow & process mapping creates a visual map of the steps your practice currently uses for a specific patient care or administrative task. Benefits of process mapping include allowing everyone to visualize and appreciate what role/contribution you and your practice team play in the care of patients; gives an overview of the current processes that allows the team to plan for change; identifies unintended variations in care, inefficient procedures, and opportunities to involve other team members in care; improves communication between team members; gives team members increased ownership in patient care; and can increase employee job satisfaction.

Linked below is an outline of the mapping process as well as two instructional videos on the process with different example project ideas to help you visualize the exercise:

The OAFP has also compiled a list of suggested project ideas for those in a non-traditional practice setting to help get you started!

If you have any questions regarding your PI Activity requirement for ABFM Certification, please contact Ann Williamson at the ABFM.

To meet the American Board of Medical Specialties Assessment Standards for Continuing Certification updated on January 1, 2024, the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) began the transition to Certification 2025, the new Continuous Certification 5-Year Cycle on January 1, 2025.

The OAFP hosted this webinar on October 8, 2024, to provide insight into this change and what it means for family physician member-Diplomates.

Listen as ABFM’s Senior Vice President of Diplomate Experience Gary LeRoy, MD, FAAFP, shares more about the recent modifications in certification requirements, examination formats, and continuing medical education expectations.

After listening, you will understand how and when these changes will impact your certification journey.

Questions

Please contact Deputy Executive Vice President Kaitlin McGuffie or call 800.742.7327.