Social and demographic change, the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid advance of artificial intelligence and other trends have created a time of great change for the nation’s state medical boards — an environment that the FSMB Foundation is addressing directly with targeted programming and a newly updated strategic plan.

In this annual report — our first ever — the Foundation offers highlights of the progress we are making in serving the nation’s state medical boards.

Established in 1980 as the philanthropic arm of the Federation of State Medical Boards, the Foundation funds education and research initiatives that help state medical boards adapt to changing times as they protect the public. As the new and challenging era for medical regulation continues to unfold, the Foundation has committed itself to launching a variety of new initiatives and strategies that will respond to boards’ evolving operational needs.

In its newly updated strategic plan, the Foundation is envisioned as a catalyst for innovative ideas, encouraging research and education initiatives that translate into best practices and greater effectiveness for state medical boards. To increase the impact of these efforts, the plan calls for the distribution of larger individual grants to those whose work we support.

The new plan also puts an emphasis on helping boards build sustainable leadership for the future, funding programs to help regulatory leaders develop their knowledge and skills and to encourage new thinking. We recognize that in order for state medical boards to succeed, the public must be aware of their work; therefore, the plan envisions new funding programs for awareness-building campaigns.

To increase our own effectiveness, the new plan also includes updates to the Foundation’s bylaws, governance and the metrics we use to measure our performance and impact.

While it will respond in new ways to the environment faced by the medical regulatory community, the Foundation’s updated plan continues its historical emphasis on research and education — the two foundational pillars of its mission.

The Foundation will continue to support long-standing educational efforts — for example, raising awareness of public health issues that directly impact state medical boards (e.g., the opioid epidemic and physician burnout) — and it will continue to encourage publication of the research of Foundation grantees in the Journal of Medical Regulation and other leading forums.

To accomplish its goals, the Foundation will seek new partnerships with external organizations, aiming to bolster its funding strategies for larger, more impactful grants. The size of our grants has increased steadily over the years, and in our 2023-24 grant-cycle period, we will be offering a total of $300,000 to support new initiatives. Up to $50,000 in individual grants will be available — the largest in our history.

We are proud of the work we accomplished over the last year, including funding research efforts on physician health, opioid and pain management education, physician-assistant disciplinary trends and supporting the continued growth of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC). You can read more about these efforts in this report.

The Foundation exists to ensure that medical regulation continues to strengthen the safety and quality of health care for all. Our grant recipients are in the forefront of this mission, forging new paths for state medical boards as they protect patients. We are grateful to them for their work, and to our many partners and supporters for making their efforts possible.