FSMB may make license renewal tougher

Mary Schneider at Family Practice News reports on the possibility of tougher medical relicensing requirements:

Under the draft policy, relicensure would become more comprehensive and require that physicians demonstrate continuing skills and knowledge in their area of practice.

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Over the last 5 years, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has been considering how state medical boards could change these policies to ensure that licensees are competent.

Don’t panic, fellow family medicine doctors.  We’re ahead of the curve on this one:

Family physicians who remain current and active with maintenance of certification will have nothing to worry about, [Dr. James C. Puffer, president and chief executive officer for the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM)] said, since the draft model policy would allow maintenance of certification to satisfy the requirements of maintenance of licensure.

Family physicians may be better prepared for these requirements than physicians in other specialties since family medicine does not grant lifetime board certification.