News and briefs: ABFM enhances Maintenance of Certification process

The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) recently made changes to its Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) program, including a new entry/re-entry process. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, physicians who do not pass the MC-FP exam within three years of graduation from a residency program, or physicians who have never started the process, will have to follow the guidelines of the entry process to be eligible to take the test. The entry process includes continuing education credits and maintaining a full and unrestricted license for three years, among other things.

The ABFM also updated its definition of “board eligibility” as the first seven years after loss of certification or the completion of an ACGME accredited residency training program. The organization previously did not have a set definition for the term. After the seven-year period, a physician will lose the ability to refer to himself or herself as board eligible and will need to re-enter training and complete at least one year of additional training in an ACGME accredited family medicine residency before he or she will be allowed to take the ABFM certification exam.