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American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Receives Commendation from ACCME for Excellent Continuing Medical Education Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Contact:
Leslie Champlin
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237, Ext. 5224
lchampli@aafp.org

LEAWOOD, Kan. – The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) was recently resurveyed by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and awarded “Accreditation with Commendation for Excellence” as a provider of continuing medical education (CME) for physicians. ACCME accreditation seeks to assure both physicians and the public that continuing medical education activities provided by the AAFP meet the high standards of the essential areas, elements and policies for accreditation as specified by the ACCME.

“Only about 8 percent of all ACCME-accredited providers receive Accreditation with Commendation,” said Mindi McKenna, PhD, MBA, director of continuing medical education for the AAFP. “We are honored to receive this recognition, and we look forward to implementing improvements to our already outstanding CME program.”

The AAFP received notification of the award in a letter from Murray Kopelow, MD, MSC, FRCPC, chief executive of the ACCME. The letter recognizes the AAFP’s CME program with a six-year term of “Accreditation with Commendation for Excellence.” This designation is the culmination of a fifteen-month study of the AAFP CME program that highlighted the program’s components, as well as the history, quality improvements and future directions of the program.

The ACCME rigorously evaluates the overall CME programs of institutions according to standards adopted by all seven member organizations of the ACCME. These are: the American Board of Medical Specialties; the American Hospital Association; the American Medical Association; the Association for Hospital Medical Education; the Association of American Medical Colleges; the Council of Medical Specialty Societies; and the Federation of State Medical Boards of the U.S., Inc.

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Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 94,600 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 208 million office visits each year - nearly 83 million more than the next largest medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty.

In the increasingly fragmented world of health care where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.

To learn more about the American Academy of Family Physicians and about the specialty of family medicine, please visit aafp.org.

For more information about the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care and downloadable multi-media on family medicine and health care, visit the AAFP Media Center.

For more information about health care, health conditions, and wellness, please visit familydoctor.org.