AMERICAN BOARD OF FAMILY MEDICINE ELECTS NEW OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS

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: Elizabeth Baxley, MD, of Greenville, North Carolina elected as Chair; Jerry Kruse, MD, of Springfield, Illinois as Chair-Elect; Montgomery Douglas, MD, of West Hartford, Connecticut as Treasurer, and Joseph Gravel, Jr, MD, of Lawrence, Massachusetts as Member-at-Large, Executive Committee. In addition, the ABFM welcomes this year’s new members to the Board of Directors: Beth Bortz of Richmond, Virginia; Lauren Hughes, MD, MPH, MSc, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; John Mellinger, MD, of Springfield, Illinois, and Daniel Spogen, MD, of Sparks, Nevada.

The new ABFM officers will each serve a 1-year term:

Dr Baxley is a Professor of Family Medicine and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, where she has served since 2012. Before joining the faculty at Brody, she spent 18 years at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, serving as Residency Director, and later as Chair, of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. Dr Baxley will serve the ABFM on the Executive Committee, the Bylaws Committee, the Credentials Committee, the Examination Committee, the Audit/Finance Committee, the Research & Development Committee as its Chair, and the Certification Committee.

Dr Kruse is a Professor in both the Department of Family & Community Medicine and Medical Education as well as Dean and Provost of the SIU School of Medicine. Prior to this, Dr Kruse spent 9 years as the Executive Director of the Quincy Family Medicine Programs, and 19 years on the faculty of the Quincy Family Practice Residency Program; serving as Assistant Program Director for 9 years and as Program Director for 12 years. Dr Kruse will serve the ABFM on the Executive Committee, the Bylaws Committee, the Operations Committee as its Chair, the Examination Committee, the Audit/Finance Committee, the Research & Development Committee, and the Communications/Publications Committee.

Dr Douglas is Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. He previously served as Chairman of the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at New York Medical College. Dr Douglas will serve the ABFM on the Executive Committee, the Bylaws Committee as its Chair, the Credentials Committee, the Examination Committee, the Audit/Finance Committee as its Chair, the Research & Development Committee, and the Certification Committee.

Dr Gravel is the Chief Medical Officer and the Chair of Family Medicine & Community Health at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center. He served as a residency program director for 20 years. He is a Past President of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians, and the Family Medicine Education Consortium. He currently also serves as Chair of the Academic Family Medicine Advocacy Committee and on the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine’s Board of Directors. Dr Gravel is a Professor of Family Medicine & Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr Gravel will serve the ABFM on the Executive Committee, the Bylaws Committee, the Credentials Committee as its Chair, the Examination Committee, the Audit/Finance Committee, the Communications/Publications Committee, and the Certification Committee.

The ABFM welcomes 4 new members to the Board of Directors:

Ms Bortz is the President and CEO of the Virginia Center for Health Innovation, a nonprofit established in 2012 to accelerate the adoption of value-driven health care in the Commonwealth. Ms Bortz currently serves on the Board of Directors of Virginia Health Information, LEAD Virginia, and the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Foundation. Ms Bortz will serve the ABFM on the Operations Committee and the Communications/Publications Committee.

Dr Hughes is a practicing family physician and Deputy Secretary for Health Innovation in the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Prior to joining the Department, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan where she studied health services research. Dr Hughes will serve the ABFM on the Research & Development Committee and the Communications/Publications Committee.

Dr Mellinger is a professor of surgery at Southern Illinois University, where he also serves as Chair of the Division of General Surgery and Program Director of the General Surgery Residency. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Surgery. Dr Mellinger will serve the ABFM on the Operations Committee and the Research & Development Committee.

Dr Spogen is a professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, where he also serves as Chair of the school’s Department of Family Medicine and as the Director of Medical Education. He is also the Medical Director and Faculty Advisor of the school’s Student Outreach Clinic. Dr Spogen recently served as a Director on the AAFP’s Board of Directors. Dr Spogen will serve the ABFM on the Credentials Committee and the Certification Committee

The remaining current members of the Board are: Wendy Biggs, MD, of Overland Park, Kansas; John Brady, MD, of Newport News, Virginia; Colleen Conry, MD, of Aurora, Colorado; Christopher A. Cunha, MD, of Crestview Hills, Kentucky; Lorna Anne Lynn, MD, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Michael K. Magill, MD, of Salt Lake City, Utah; Robert J. Ronis, MD, MPH, of Cleveland, Ohio; David E. Soper, MD, of Charleston, South Carolina; Keith Stelter, MD, of Mankato, Minnesota, and Melissa Thomason of Pinetops, North Carolina.

• © 2017 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.