Professionalism in Family Medicine Education

The STFM Professionalism in Family Medicine Education Initiative

An STFM Professionalism in Family Medicine Education Task Force, chaired by STFM Past President Joe Gravel, MD, is working on the following tactics to support family medicine faculty as they seek to teach professionalism in an era where physicians are challenged with upholding the best interests of patients while taking into account the goals of the institutions or practices that employ them.

Convene a Professionalism in Family Medicine Summit
The 2025 Professionalism in Family Medicine Summit brought together leaders from family medicine residency and academic departments, certifying and accrediting bodies, and professional societies to reexamine the meaning, teaching, and assessment of professionalism in an era of rapid cultural and systemic change. Over two days, participants identified opportunities for innovation and collaboration, and brainstormed strategies for embedding professionalism in both training and practice.

Summit goals were to:

Discuss future directions for family medicine professionalism expectations
Develop strategies for faculty and physician education/development
Get input on future curriculum
Identify opportunities for collaboration
Define next steps

The Summit was co-sponsored by the American Medical Association and funded by a grant from the ABFM Foundation.

Develop and release professionalism curriculum for residents and third- and fourth-year medical students
The scenario-based curriculum will cover:

The founding principles of family medicine
How to identify and mitigate inherent business/medical professionalism conflicts
How to maintain integrity in settings that are more systems-focused than patient-focused
When and how to advocate for change

Identify or create competency-based assessment tools
The task force will identify or create strategies to assess learners and faculty.

Deliver faculty development
Faculty development will be done through:

Conference presentations
Virtual training sessions (webinars)
Faculty Development Delivered workshops at individual residency programs

Faculty development topics will include:

Creating learning environments conducive to the ongoing development of “explicit and appropriate professional behaviors” in students, residents, faculty, and staff \
How to foster professionalism based on intrinsic motivation, rather than on a list of rules
Assessing professionalism, and strategies for addressing professionalism lapses

This initiative is funded by a grant from the ABFM Foundation.

Quick Links

Professionalism in Family Medicine Summit: Executive Summary and Next Steps (pdf)

STFM Professionalism in Family Medical Education Task Force

Joseph Gravel, MD, Chair of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin
John Brady, MD, Associate Professor, VCU-Riverside Family Medicine Residency
Daniel Casey, MD, Program Director, JPS Family Medicine Residency
Amy Clithero, PhD, MBA, Director for Medical Student Education on Health Policy & Advocacy, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Roger Garvin MD, Director of GME Integration and Expansion, Oregon Health & Science University
Lauren Gibson-Oliver, MD, MBA, Residency Program Director, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Lynne Havsy, PhD, Assistant Director of Behavioral Science and Resident Development Anderson Family Medicine Residency Program
Timothy Hoff, PhD, Professor of Management, Healthcare Systems, and Health Policy, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Natalie Long, MD, Family Medicine Clerkship Director, University of Missouri-Columbia
Adam Saperstein, MD, Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Medical Education, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Takudzwa Shumba, MD, MPH, Clinical Associate Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine
Mary Theobald, MBA, Chief of Strategy and Innovation, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
Maria Montanez Villacampa, MD, Residency Associate Program Director, University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio