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Geriatric Medicine Board Meeting Summary | Spring 2025

June 12, 2025  |  Posted by ABIM  |  Specialty Board Meeting Summaries

Jorge G. Ruiz, MD, Chair, ABIM Geriatric Medicine Board

The Geriatric Medicine Board, which meets twice a year and is responsible for oversight of policy and assessment in the specialty, held its spring meeting on March 28, 2025. Representatives from the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) joined for a portion of the meeting*.

The following is a summary of the spring meeting. Visit the ABIM Blog for reports of prior meetings. To share your feedback with the Geriatric Medicine Board on this report or other issues that are important to you, please complete this brief survey.

ABIM and the Geriatric Medicine Board gratefully acknowledge the service of Jorge G. Ruiz, MD, whose three-year term as chair ends June 30, 2025. Dr. Ruiz first joined the Specialty Board as a member in 2021.

Contents:

ABIM Leadership Update*

Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABIM and the ABIM Foundation, joined the Specialty Board to discuss progress on key initiatives and ongoing areas of focus for ABIM, including:

  • Exploring the alignment of Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirement due dates with the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA®) cycle to help make the MOC program more reliably predictable.
  • Enhancements made to the LKA in response to feedback from physicians who identified areas for improvement, which are intended to keep the program relevant and effective.
  • Expanding ABIM’s engagement with stakeholder communities such as early career physicians, specialty societies and patient-focused organizations.
  • Upgrades to the ABIM website and Physician Portal for 2025, designed to make it easier for both physicians and the public to find information.

Dr. McDonald shared more about a pilot model announced last year that would create a pathway for exceptionally qualified international medical graduates (IMGs) successfully completing ACGME-accredited subspecialty fellowship  to become Board eligible in Internal Medicine and subspecialties. The ABIM Council approved the pilot earlier this year and submitted it to the American Board of Medical Specialties, the final approval stage before implementation.

In discussion, some of the group asked about the effects of immigration policy changes on the physician workforce and ABIM’s work in health equity. Dr. McDonald expressed ABIM’s willingness to collaborate on raising public awareness of the field of geriatrics and the vital work of geriatricians and noted similar challenges in the past surrounding travel bans and duration-of-stay limits. He emphasized ABIM’s focus on patient-centered standards and promoting high-quality care, as well as ABIM’s commitment to ensuring a diverse governance that reflects the physician and patient population.

Specialty Board Oversight of Assessment*

Each spring, the ABIM Specialty Boards review data related to certification and assessment trends in their disciplines to help guide their decisions on assessments. At this meeting, the Geriatric Medicine Board received statistics on the current state of certification in geriatric medicine, assessment enrollment, demographics and pass rates, and data from post-assessment surveys. (Some data, such as exam pass rates and resident and fellow workforce trends, are publicly available on ABIM’s website.) The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) is a cosponsoring board for geriatric medicine, which means physicians certified by ABFM who have completed accredited training can also qualify for the Geriatric Medicine Certification Exam administered by ABIM and obtain ABFM Board Certification in Geriatric Medicine. Looking at ABIM physicians, 11,374 physicians have been certified in geriatric medicine since it was first offered in 1988, with 4,740 currently maintaining a valid certification. 4,372 of these (92%) also have a current valid certificate in Internal Medicine. Of physicians who obtain certification in geriatric medicine from either ABIM or ABFM, there are just under 7,000 physicians currently certified in geriatric medicine. In 2024, 75% of ABIM Board Certified geriatricians who chose an assessment opted for the LKA, while 68% of ABFM geriatricians chose the LKA.

Some members of the Specialty Board expressed concern about how physicians might misuse emerging artificial intelligence (AI) tools on their assessments, emphasizing the need for the medical community to consider ethical practices in AI use. Rebecca S. Lipner, PhD, Senior Vice President, Assessment and Research, explained that diplomates are warned that assessment questions are not allowed to be copy-pasted or retyped fully into AI tools, and ABIM does monitor for this improper use.

Initial Certification and Training Data in Geriatric Medicine*

The Geriatric Medicine Board also reviewed new data from the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), Board Eligibility data, outcomes for candidates requiring retraining, faculty pathway pass rates and approved Advancing Innovation in Residency Education programs in geriatric medicine.

The group discussed public awareness and transparency of the policy whereby candidates for certification can attempt the certification examination up to eight times. Nancy Lundebjerg, MPA, Chief Executive Officer of AGS, observed that NRMP data showing fellows matched to programs should increase after summer surveys to reflect the number of fellows beginning training in July.

Diplomate Professional Profile*

The Diplomate Professional Profile is a questionnaire built into the ABIM Physician Portal and required of all ABIM Board Certified physicians every five years. The questionnaire gathers information about clinical work and practice patterns, and ABIM uses the information to help update exam blueprints, develop policies for initial certification and MOC, and ensure adequately diverse representation of the profession in research. To date, 44% of physicians have completed the Diplomate Professional Profile. Siddharta G. Reddy, MPH, Senior Research Associate for ABIM, reviewed aggregate data gathered so far related to geriatric medicine physicians, including practice setting, practice size and physician ownership of practices.

Members of the Geriatric Medicine Board expressed appreciation for the increasingly specific data from the Diplomate Professional Profile and potential for its application in the future to better understand the physician workforce.

Community Practice in ABIM Governance*

Erica N. Johnson, MD, FACP, FIDSA, Senior Vice President for Academic and Medical Affairs, led a discussion with the Geriatric Medicine Board on community practice in the specialty to create a more inclusive understanding of its role and scope. She also sought input on overlapping aspects of community practice across the disciplines of internal medicine to inform ABIM’s recruitment efforts for broad physician representation in governance roles.

Since 2013, ABIM Specialty Boards have been required to include at least one physician member primarily engaged in community practice, defined broadly in applications as “clinical practice in a non-university, community setting.” A workgroup convened in 2020 found that the existing practice categories candidates could choose were inadequate to the real scope of community practice and proposed updates drawn from the American Medical Association and the Diplomate Professional Profile.

A few members of the Specialty Board offered suggestions for greater flexibility and nuance that might improve the survey in future: including categories like house call physician, at-home rehabilitation under transitional care, physicians associated with academic centers who serve community patients and an open-response option for anything that falls outside the standard categories. They discussed the importance of recognizing nuances and varied or overlapping roles when evaluating governance candidates for community-designated positions. Above all, they noted the value of evolving definitions and remaining inclusive.

Terminology and Content Standards in Assessment*

Dr. Ruiz led a discussion with the Geriatric Medicine Board regarding terminology and content standards in geriatric medicine assessments particularly, as well as assessments and competencies across internal medicine. The conversation touched on the need to more consistently reference “older adult(s)” instead of “elderly” and the relatively low percentage of geriatric content in internal medicine assessments. For example, in specialties like cardiovascular disease and medical oncology with prevalent geriatric patient populations, concepts like frailty and falls may not be covered in assessment materials. They discussed the need to review blueprints in other specialties to ensure greater integration of older adult care and address ageist assumptions in assessment content, while also aligning with published competencies for medical students and residents.

Innovations in Assessment*

ABIM’s Research and Innovations Department has been leading a program of research on improving assessments through three main areas: supporting the efficiency of assessment development staff, facilitating the item development process, and enhancing the assessment experience for physicians. The Geriatric Medicine Board received an overview of the team’s current projects.

In discussion, some members of the Specialty Board expressed appreciation for the work being done and identified potential broader uses for innovations. Staff clarified that while this particular team is focused on integrating new technologies into assessment development structures as well as the testing experience, other staff teams are considering additional uses.

Annual Diplomate Report*

ABIM is looking into the potential for publishing annual reports of data that will highlight broad statistics across each discipline of internal medicine, both for a given year and historic trends over time. This would include the current number of physicians certified in each discipline and its geographic distribution, participation rates in MOC, demographic characteristics and assessment performance. While some of these data have been made available on request for research purposes, ABIM has never published a consolidated annual report.

The Specialty Board agreed that data on the ABIM website should be updated annually to ensure transparency and support advocacy efforts. In the case of geriatric medicine, they identified challenges of interpreting or distinguishing data where they overlap between family medicine (ABFM) physicians and internal medicine (ABIM) physicians.

Supporting Research and Important Issues in Geriatric Medicine*

Dr. Johnson led the Geriatric Medicine Board in a discussion about opportunities for ABIM Governance members to support important issues and research that demonstrates the value of board certification. Dr. Johnson asked the Specialty Board to identify current or emerging issues that affect health care in geriatric medicine, and to consider opportunities for the Specialty Board to address these issues within the appropriate framework of its oversight of the discipline.

The Specialty Board’s discussion focused on two main areas: raising public awareness about geriatric medicine workforce concerns and greater integration of geriatric medicine content in other medical disciplines. Several members proposed channels for communicating about the declining number of board certified geriatricians, particularly among IMGs, such as print periodicals targeting older adults, social media platforms and public television. They noted that ageism contributes to general stigma or undervaluation of the discipline and highlighted the need for greater public awareness of geriatric medicine. They also discussed reviewing blueprints and assessment content in other specialties to identify potential ageist stereotypes or opportunities to integrate geriatric medicine content.

Society guests departed at this point in the meeting.

Candidates for the Geriatric Medicine Approval Committees

ABIM Specialty Boards are responsible for selecting members and chairs of the Approval Committees annually and as needed. At the spring meeting, the Geriatric Medicine Board reviewed candidate materials for two openings and voted to approve the following appointments:

  • Kourosh A. P. Moshiri, MD, Eisenhower Medical Center, to the Geriatric Medicine Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
  • Nannette B. Hoffman, MD, Hospital Corporation of America, to the Geriatric Medicine LKA Approval Committee

Updates from the Geriatric Medicine Approval Committees

Helen L. Chen, MD, Chair of the Geriatric Medicine Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee, and Niharika N. Suchak, MD, Chair of the Geriatric Medicine LKA Approval Committee, updated the Geriatric Medicine Board on the composition and recent meetings of the two Approval Committees as well as the Geriatric Medicine Item-Writing Task Force.

The Specialty Board discussed strategies for recruiting Item-Writers and broader engagement with the geriatric medicine community and will work with ABIM staff to explore possibilities for in-person events or engagements at upcoming society national meetings in 2026 and 2027.

Visit the ABIM website to learn about joining the Item-Writing Task Force.

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Apply to openings on ABIM Governance and the Item-Writing Task Forces and be part of shaping the future of ABIM’s assessments.

Join the Community Insights Network to share feedback with ABIM through focus groups, surveys, user testing and more as we develop and refine our programs together.

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*Indicates that society representatives and other guests were present for discussion of this agenda topic.

ABIM governance, Geriatric medicine, Geriatric Medicine Board, Jorge Ruiz, Summary Report

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