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 four new officers and three new board members. The new officers elected at the ABFM's spring board meeting in April are: Craig W. Czarsty, MD of Oakville, Connecticut, elected as Chair; Warren P. Newton, MD of Chapel Hill, North Carolina as Chair Elect; John R. Bucholtz, DO of Columbus, Georgia as Treasurer; and Arlene Brown, MD of Ruidoso, New Mexico as Member-at-Large, Executive Committee. In addition, the ABFM welcomes this year's new members to the Board of Directors: Alan K. David, MD of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Carlos R. Jaén, MD of San Antonio, Texas; and Kailie R. Shaw, MD of Tampa, Florida.

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

Craig W. Czarsty, MD, Chair, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2006. He has been practicing family medicine full time in Connecticut since 1983 and has been very involved at the national level in both the production and accreditation of continuing medical education. Dr. Czarsty serves on the medical staffs of both Waterbury and St. Mary's Hospitals. He was also a part of the clinical staff with the Department of Family Medicine at St. Mary's from 1983-1998. Dr. Czarsty has served as Watertown's school system's medical director for the last 25 years and as the department surgeon for both Watertown's Police Department and Fire Department for the last 27 years. He is also the Medical Director for the Watertown Convalarium. He is a founder of Health Horizons International Foundation, an NGO formed to provide primary care to the area around Montellano, Dominican Republic.

Warren Newton, MD, Chair-Elect, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2007. Dr. Newton is the Executive Associate Dean for Medical Education and William B. Aycock Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has held local, state and national leadership positions within family medicine and has been involved in the development of the North Carolina Governor's Quality Initiative.

John R. Bucholtz, DO, Treasurer, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2006. He is the Program Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program and Director of Medical Education at the Medical Center in Columbus, Georgia.

Arlene M. Brown, MD, Member-at-Large, Executive Committee, has been a member of the Board since 2007. She is a practicing family physician with over twenty years' experience caring for her patients and her community. She has taught medical students, residents and mid-level students and has been involved in quality improvement initiatives. She is a recipient of the New Mexico Family Doctor of the Year Award.

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

Alan K. David, MD is the Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He previously served as the family medicine department chair at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Kentucky. Dr. David currently serves as the Chair of the Residency Education Committee for the Association of Departments of Family Medicine. He has also served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians.

Carlos Roberto Jaén, MD is the Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at San Antonio. He is also an adjunct professor at the UTHSC School of Public Health at Houston and is co-director of the Center for Research in Family Medicine and Primary Care. Dr. Jaén has been selected to the Best Doctors in America yearly since 2002.

Kailie R. Shaw, MD is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the University of South Florida, where she also served as the Vice-Chairperson for 15 years. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. In addition, she serves on the Finance Planning Committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The remaining current members of the Board are: Diane K. Beebe, MD of Jackson, Mississippi; Howard Blanchette, MD of Valhalla, New York; Erika Bliss, MD of Seattle, WA; Thomas H. Cogbill, MD of LaCrosse, Wisconsin; Susan C. Day, MD of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Thomas P. Gessner, MD of Latrobe, Pennsylvania; Larry A. Green, MD of Denver, Colorado; Samuel Jones, MD of Fairfax, VA; Michael G. Workings, MD of Detroit, Michigan.

The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) is the second-largest medical specialty board in the United States. Founded in 1969, it is a voluntary, not-for-profit, private organization whose objective is to encourage excellence in medical care. The ABFM believes that its certified family physicians have successfully demonstrated their ability and have proven their commitment to the public, the specialty of Family Medicine and the profession.

Through its certification and recertification processes, the ABFM seeks to provide patients the assurance that its certified family physicians have completed the necessary training/experience to provide quality care to the individual and the family and that this commitment to excellence is maintained throughout the physician's years of practice.