Maintenance of Certification SAMs Remain Primary Point of Contention

Responding to directives from the 2004 Congress of Delegates, the Academy on Nov. 30 sent a letter to the (then) American Board of Family Practice (now the American Board of Family Medicine -- see "Board's Name Change Reflects Solidarity Within 'Family of Family Medicine'") conveying AAFP delegates' actions regarding the board's Maintenance of Certification Program for Family Physicians, or MC-FP. The AAFP letter includes recommendations for easing transition to the new process.

Unfortunately, ABFM President Thomas Norris, M.D., on Nov. 10 sent a letter to the board's 66,000-plus Diplomates without having seen those recommendations.

In the Nov. 10 letter, Norris repeats a message relayed Oct. 12 - 13 by ABFM representatives in testimony during the Congress in Orlando, Fla.: "It is important to remember that the AAFP and the (ABFM) are separate organizations, with different accountabilities, and while the AAFP may make recommendations to the (ABFM), the (ABFM's) Board of Directors must make decisions regarding (ABFM) policies."

The letter goes on to acknowledge two primary concerns raised during the Congress -- a perceived lack of communication from the ABFM to its Diplomates about the MC-FP process and technical problems with the Self-Assessment Modules, or SAMs -- and then briefly describes actions the board has taken to address those concerns.

The board was "asked by the AAFP to suspend the MC-FP program, until improved communication and technical enhancements could be accomplished," Norris' letter states.

"While MC-FP will continue to evolve, the fundamental structure of the program will not change. … The one request we are not willing to honor is that we suspend the 'roll-out' of MC-FP," it concludes.

At the time Norris' letter was sent, the Academy had made no official MC-FP-related request of the board. The AAFP's letter, sent by AAFP Board Chair Michael Fleming, M.D., of Shreveport, La. (PDF file: 2 pages/105 KB. More information on using PDF files.), delineates two MC-FP-related resolutions adopted by delegates at the 2004 Congress and outlines recommendations for achieving those resolutions' objectives.

Briefly, the recommendations are:

"My hope," Fleming said of the Academy's letter, "is that now that the (board's) leadership has seen our recommendations, they will rethink their positions on the issues we've addressed and act accordingly." To do so, he added, would be in keeping with the collegial spirit of the many meetings between the Academy's and the board's executive committees, the memo of understanding between the two organizations, and their mutual commitment to collaboration in moving MC-FP forward.