Become Certified
Resident Resources
Choosing to become board certified is an important decision that requires time and commitment. Below you’ll find resources to assist you throughout your certification journey.
Resources include policies relating to family leave, advanced placement credit, and other pathways, as well as initial certification pass rates, topic-driven handouts, and Competency Based Board Eligibility (CBBE).
ABFM is pleased to offer a report on the performance of graduates from family medicine residency programs on the one-day exam over the past five years. This report is intended for the prospective resident but may also be useful to others involved in family medicine training.
Board Eligibility Policy: ABFM’s requirements to become board eligible.
Advanced Placement Credit Policy: ABFM’s policy on Advanced Placement Credit credit in the United States and other countries.
Family Leave Policy: ABFM’s recently updated Family Leave Policy about leave types and
parameters.
Part Time and Combined Residency Policy: Learn more about part-time or reduced training schedules and
pursuing a second discipline while completing family medicine training.
Absence from Residency: Detailed information and requirements for continuity of care, board
eligibility, leave time, and more.
Waiver of Continuity of Care Policy
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ITE CONTENT OUTLINE
The In-Training Exam Content Outline provides a blueprint of all
content areas that will be covered.
This tool is designed to provide you and your residency
program with an estimate of your probability of passing the one-day exam.
Log in to your MyABFM Portfolio to access the most recent ITE booklets and view recent
results.
If you trained in a three-year AOA-Accredited Family Medicine Residency Training Program, or an AOA program that has
received ACGME accreditation or pre-accreditation, you may be eligible to apply for Family Medicine Certification
through a special AOA Training Pathway. Get started by completing the form below!
On July 1, 2023, the new ACGME Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Family Medicine became
effective. These requirements represent a substantial change for residency programs, faculty, and residents alike. In
June 2025, residency programs will be asked to verify that each resident has satisfactorily completed the ACGME
requirements for residency training in family medicine, successfully achieved the core competencies, and are ready for
autonomous practice. Residents are expected to meet the following core competencies:
Competency: Practice as personal physicians, providing first contact, comprehensive and continuity care,
to include excellent doctor-patient relationships, excellent care of chronic disease, routine preventive care, and
effective panel and patient management.
Competency: Diagnose and manage acute illness and injury for people of all ages in the emergency room or
hospital.
Competency: Provide comprehensive care of children, including diagnosis and management of the acutely ill
child and routine preventive care.
Competency: Develop effective communication and constructive relationships with patients, clinical teams,
and consultants.
Competency: Model professionalism and trustworthiness for patients, peers, and communities. Residents must
demonstrate a commitment to professionalism and an adherence to ethical principles. Residents must demonstrate
competence in compassion, integrity, and respect for others.
Competency: Practice as personal physicians, to include care of women, the elderly, and patients at the
end of life, with excellent rate of continuity and appropriate referrals.
Competency: Provide care for low-risk patients who are pregnant, to include management of early pregnancy,
medical problems during pregnancy, prenatal care, postpartum care and breastfeeding, with or without competence in labor
and delivery.
Competency: Diagnose and manage common mental health problems in people of all ages.
Competency: Model lifelong learning and engage in self-reflection.
For more information about CBBE, please contact the ABFM Residency Team at residency@theabfm.org.
2025 Core Competencies
Rationale and Methodology: The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) has a long history of
collecting data from its Diplomates to evaluate its certification program, including residency training requirements.
With growth in residency training programs and new flexibility in curricula design, ABFM decided to begin surveying
residents in training in 2023. The National Resident Survey (NRS) provides an opportunity for residents to include their
voice and input on residency training, changes in scope of practice, desired career options, and satisfaction / wellness.
