AMERICAN BOARD OF FAMILY MEDICINE ELECTS NEW OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS

Jane Ireland

doi:10.1370/afm.1438

The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) is pleased to announce the election of 4 new officers and 4 new board members. The new officers elected at the ABFM’s spring board meeting in April are: Samuel Jones, MD of Fairfax, Virginia, elected as Chair; Diane K. Beebe, MD of Jackson, Mississippi as Chair Elect; Michael G. Workings, MD of Detroit, Michigan as Treasurer; and Erika Bliss, MD of Seattle, Washington as Member-at-Large, Executive Committee. In addition, the ABFM welcomes this year’s new members to the Board of Directors: Christine C. Matson, MD of Norfolk, Virginia; David W. Mercer, MD of Omaha, Nebraska; Marcia J. Nielsen, PhD, MPH of Lawrence, Kansas; and Keith L. Stelter, MD of Mankato, Minnesota.

The new ABFM officers will each serve a 1-year term: Samuel Jones, MD, Chair, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2008. Dr. Jones has practiced at the Fairfax Family Practice Centers in Fairfax, Virginia for the past 20 years, in addition to serving as the Secretary/ Treasurer for its Board of Directors. He is also the Program Director and a member of the teaching faculty of the Virginia Commonwealth University Fairfax Family Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Jones will serve the ABFM on the Executive Committee as its Chair.

Diane K. Beebe, MD, Chair-Elect, is the Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She previously served as the Residency Director and Vice-Chairman for the Department of Family Medicine. She is also a member of the ACGME-RRC for the Family Medicine Accreditation Appeals Board and formerly served on the Academic Council for the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors National Institute for Program Director Development. Dr. Beebe will serve the ABFM on the Executive Committee, the Bylaws Committee, the Credentials Committee, the Operations Committee, the Audit/Finance Committee, the MC-FP Committee, and the Communications/Publications Committee as its Chair.

Michael G. Workings, MD, Treasurer, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2008. Dr. Workings is affiliated with the Henry Ford Health System and is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, Wayne State University, the Medical College of Ohio and the Chicago Medical School. Dr. Workings is also the team physician for the Detroit Tigers. Dr. Workings will serve the ABFM on the Executive Committee, the Bylaws Committee as its Chair, the Credentials Committee, the Operations Committee, the Examination Committee, the Audit/Finance Committee as its Chair, and the MC-FP Committee.

Erika Bliss, MD, Member-at-Large, Executive Committee, is the lead clinician with Qliance Medical Group of Washington PC in Seattle, and the Director of Medical Care and Advisor with Qliance Medical Management. She currently serves as a Steering Committee Member for Preparing the Personal Physician for Practice (P⁴) Project. Dr. Bliss, a 1999 Pisacano Scholar, also formerly served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pisacano Leadership Foundation. Dr. Bliss will serve the ABFM on the Executive Committee, the Bylaws Committee, the Operations Committee, the Examination Committee as its Chair, the Audit/Finance Committee, the Research & Development Committee, and the MC-FP Committee.

The following new Board members will each serve a 5-year term:

Christine C. Matson, MD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School. She has served as Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program and Co-Director of the Family Medicine/Internal Medicine Combined Residency Program in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Matson will serve the ABFM on the Research and Development Committee and the MC-FP Committee.

David W. Mercer, MD is the McLaughlin Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Mercer will serve the ABFM on the Credentials Committee and the MC-FP Committee.

Marcia J. Nielsen, PhD, MPH is the first public member to serve on the ABFM’s Board of Directors. She was recently named the Executive Director of the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative. Dr. Nielsen previously served as the Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs at Kansas University Medical Center. Dr. Nielsen will serve the ABFM on the Credentials Committee and the Communications/Publications Committee.

Keith L. Stelter, MD is the Associate Director of the Mankato Family Medicine Residency Program in Mankato, MN and an instructor with the Rural Physician Associate Program of the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Stelter will serve the ABFM on the Operations Committee and the Examination Committee.

The remaining current members of the Board are: Howard Blanchette, MD of Valhalla, New York; Laura Brooks, MD of Lynchburg, Virginia; Alan K. David, MD of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Susan C. Day, MD of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Jimmy H. Hara, MD of Los Angeles, California; Carlos Roberto Jaén, MD of San Antonio, Texas; James Kennedy, MD of Winter Park, Colorado; Warren P. Newton, MD of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Kailie R. Shaw, MD of Tampa, Florida.