Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenges Today
I am deeply honored to serve as Chair of the FSMB Board of Directors, and I am grateful for this opportunity to serve the state medical board community as it carries out its critical mission of public protection. As the FSMB’s 2026–2027 leadership team begins its work, we are committed to strengthening our ability to anticipate and prepare for the evolving challenges facing medical regulators. By looking ahead, we can ensure our community is well positioned to adapt to the changes that will shape the future of medical regulation.
Advocacy. The FSMB’s Advocacy Office, based in Washington, DC, continues to monitor legislative and policy developments to help keep our member boards informed of what is happening in Congress and state houses across the country.
At the federal level, Advocacy staff are working to support the States Handling Access to Reciprocity for Employment (SHARE) Act in both the US House and Senate. Introduced in March 2025, the SHARE Act adds a technical amendment to existing federal law to clearly authorize the FBI to conduct criminal background checks for state medical boards and other licensing agencies for the purpose of interstate licensure compacts. FSMB has endorsed this legislation.
Artificial Intelligence. Recognizing how rapidly artificial intelligence is reshaping the practice of medicine, FSMB has launched a new Workgroup on the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Practice. The Workgroup is charged with assessing the current regulatory landscape, examining how AI-enabled and increasingly autonomous “agentic” tools fit within the definition of the practice of medicine, and developing a report that considers recommendations and, where appropriate, model guidelines to help state medical boards protect patients while supporting responsible innovation. Its membership has been assembled to bring a deliberately broad set of perspectives to the table—state medical board members and executive directors, physician leaders in clinical informatics, independent AI researchers and developers, and representatives from national partner organizations such as the American Medical Association, the American Osteopathic Association, and the American Hospital Association, with additional input from legal, data-privacy, insurance, and federal regulatory experts. The group will convene over a series of meetings through 2026, beginning this summer, with the goal of producing practical guidance that boards can act on.
Supporting this work, FSMB’s Office of AI Innovation, an internal staff group, continues to explore how AI can improve the services FSMB offers its members. This work proceeds along two tracks: developing internal policies and best practices for the responsible use of AI—and sharing those lessons with our partner organizations—and deepening FSMB’s own knowledge and expertise in what is possible with AI. All of it operates under a governance framework grounded in human-in-the-loop oversight, data privacy, and transparency.
Communications. In May, FSMB launched its 2026 national public awareness campaign—Care Matters—to spotlight the critical role state medical boards play in protecting patients and supporting quality care. The campaign features short videos on social media as well as streaming TV platforms like Hulu, YouTube TV, and Peacock that encourage viewers to visit CareMatters.org to learn more about state medical boards and those who provide their medical care. To date, the campaign has received more than 70 million views across the country.
Education. FSMB’s Education Department continues to develop new programming that responds to the needs of member boards. In 2025, our CME portfolio placed particular emphasis on accessible enduring and ondemand activities, complemented by a strong slate of jointly provided offerings with state medical boards and other partners. Across all activities, the program reached 1,171 physician learners and 1,458 other learners, for a total of 2,629 participants in 2025.
The 2025 CME portfolio centered on three main areas of focus:
Medical regulation, professionalism, and physician health
Public health and clinical care, including COVID19, homelessness, vaccine hesitancy, and cancer genetics
Assessment science and test development, in partnership with the National Board of Medical Examiners
Building on the momentum of the successful 2026 FSMB Annual Meeting in Baltimore, the FSMB Education Committee, composed of representatives from member state medical boards, will shape the educational direction for the coming year and identify priority topics for FSMB’s 2026–2027 educational offerings. Anticipated areas of focus include:
Artificial intelligence and patient safety, workforce implications, patient use of AI tools, and the role of boards in overseeing AI-enabled care
Med spas, IV hydration clinics, GLP1 and other weightloss treatments, ketamine and psychedelic therapies, and related concerns such as unlicensed practice and deceptive marketing
Additional research and outcomesfocused sessions on physician health programs, including what works, what does not, and how best to measure impact
These themes are expected to be featured prominently in upcoming FSMB webinars and events, as well as in the program for FSMB’s 115th Annual Meeting, to be held April 15–17, 2027, at the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel in Oklahoma City, OK. In addition, the annual Board Attorneys Workshop will be held on December 2–3, 2026, in Atlanta, GA.
FSMB is also pleased to share the launch of six newly developed educational modules, introduced at the 2026 Annual Meeting. The new modules are designed for medical board members and staff, physicians, medical students, and anyone interested in learning more. The series offers an introduction to the foundations of medical regulation and the ways state medical boards promote public safety, professional accountability, and high-quality care. Each module is approximately 15–20 minutes in length, self-paced, and accredited for continuing medical education (CME) credit. By sharing these modules with educational institutions, professional partners, and interested communities, FSMB aims to foster greater understanding of medical regulation while supporting ongoing learning around patient protection and professional standards.
Workgroups, Committees, and Member Engagement. Beyond the AI initiative, much of the past year’s work has centered on strengthening engagement with our member boards and partner organizations. That has meant direct outreach to recruit subject-matter experts and stakeholder representatives onto FSMB’s workgroups, close coordination with national medical organizations, and continued support for the committees that shape FSMB’s policy and educational direction. These relationships remain the foundation of FSMB’s ability to bring the right voices together around the complex regulatory questions now facing medical boards.
The Ethics and Professionalism Committee is charged with developing guidance that advances patient safety and public protection by ensuring accurate representation of professional qualifications in evolving clinical environments, including those that use artificial intelligence and operate in non-traditional settings such as medical spas. Building on FSMB’s broader focus on physician well-being, workforce sustainability, and access to care, the Committee’s work will emphasize how clear and appropriate use of the title “Doctor” supports trust in the medical profession, protects patients from confusion or misinformation, and aligns with state-based medical regulation.
I believe that by fostering a collaborative environment within the medical board community and other colleagues in medicine, we can accomplish a great deal in the year to come. We live in a time of great challenges in healthcare and medical regulation. Working together, I know we can succeed in finding solutions.
