The FSMB currently has three groups of volunteers working on various facets of its Maintenance of Licensure (MOL) initiative:

Impact Analysis Taskforce

A task force of state medical board representatives is assisting FSMB in analyzing how state medical boards and other stakeholders might be impacted if states implemented maintenance of licensure requirements. The task force's initial findings are summarized in a report entitled An Analysis of the Impact of Implementation of Maintenance of Licensure Requirements. The task force has been asked to analyze three additional issues:

• Strategies to mitigate possible unintended consequences that may result from implementing MOL policies
• Options for dealing with licensed physicians who are pursuing careers in non-clinical settings (e.g., administration), such as different types of licenses
• How states would address physicians who choose not to or are unable to comply with MOL requirements

Evidence base Work Group

Last year, FSMB drafted the beginnings of a white paper summarizing the literature regarding various issues relevant to maintenance of competence (e.g., effectiveness of CME, impact of board certification/maintenance of certification on physician practice, quality of physician competence over time). A workgroup of experts in the field of physician evaluation and continuous quality improvement has agreed to help review and expand the white paper, which will be disseminated to state medical boards upon its completion. Current participants include:

• Dave Davis, MD
• John Fromson, MD
• Rich Hawkins, MD
• Norm Kahn, MD
• Bill McCauley, MD
• C.P. Wilkinson, MD

Advisory Group on Assuring the Continued Competence of Licensed Physicians

The FSMB is appointing a multi-stakeholder advisory group to review the organization's current and previous work on MOL. Upon completion of its review, the group will issue an opinion to the FSMB Board of Directors regarding whether the draft MOL model policy developed by the Special Committee on Maintenance of Licensure is feasible, reasonable, consistent with the guiding principles adopted by FSMB's House of Delegates in May 2008 and suitable for use by state medical boards in assuring the continued competence of licensed physicians. Members of the Advisory Group are:

• Lee Dockery, MD (Chair)
• Sue Anderson
• John Becher, DO
• Alice Coombs, MD
• Claudette Dalton, MD
• Richard Hawkins, MD
• Peter Katsufrakis, MD
• Nancy Kerr, RN, MEd
• Dorothy Keville, MEd
• William S. Mayo, DO
• Janelle Rhyne, MD
• Steven Stack, MD

In addition to convening the above volunteer groups, FSMB is developing and will be implementing strategies to broadly and regularly communicate with state medical boards and other interested stakeholders about the MOL initiative.