We live in a time of massive domestic and international developments, ranging from climate change to the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), that are reshaping the way we in the medical regulatory community approach our work. As the environment shifts around us, medical regulators are more in need of new tools and resources to adapt than ever before.

Over the past year, the FSMB Foundation has addressed this need in new and exciting ways inspired by our recently updated strategic plan. In this annual report, the Foundation offers highlights of the progress we are making as we seek to fulfill the needs of the nation’s state medical boards.

Topping the list of highlights is our record-breaking year of grant funding. We allocated nearly $400,000 for grant funding in 2024, providing individual grants up to $50,000 – marking the largest in the Foundation’s history.

We aimed our funding in 2024 at helping state medical and osteopathic boards build their emergency preparedness response capabilities through the use of the Provider Bridge online health-professional mobilization platform or to use information technology (IT) to improve their operational efficiency.

Be sure to visit our Grants page in this year’s report to learn more about our outstanding 2024 recipients and the programs we funded for them.

From helping boards digitize public records to supporting new educational initiatives to inform licensees and patients about medical regulatory processes, the core focus of our 2024 grant distributions was helping boards be more effective in their work. That’s in keeping with the spirit of our new strategic plan – and we are confident that the funding we provided will have a very real impact on patient safety and the quality of health care.

Over the course of the Foundation’s history, we have played a leadership role in addressing many issues of importance to the regulatory community, including the opioid epidemic and physician burnout. In 2024 we continued this tradition with our work on issues related to professional boundaries in health care, such as sexual misconduct or writing prescriptions for friends and family. We made significant progress during the year on the development of an educational video on this topic, working with our partner organizations, the FSMB and Administrators in Medicine (AIM) Foundation.

The video, which is expected to be released in early 2025, is aimed at raising professional-boundary awareness – helping health providers understand their responsibilities and patients understand their rights. Two versions of the video will be produced, including one that offers continuing medical education (CME) credit for health provider audiences.

Also slated for release in 2025 is a history of the Foundation. As we approach our 50th anniversary, this exploration of our past will examine the Foundation’s growth – from our earliest initiatives to the significant expansions we have experienced in recent years.

We completed and implemented important revisions to the Foundation’s Bylaws and governance procedures over the last year, including a key provision establishing term limits for members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. This will ensure that future Foundation leadership will reflect the continuously evolving dynamics and needs of the medical regulatory community.

Financially, the Foundation remains in very sound condition, with current market conditions beneficial to our investment account and strategies. Since the Foundation’s relaunch and repositioning nearly two decades ago, our fiscal capabilities have steadily increased.

The FSMB Foundation exists to ensure that medical regulation continues to strengthen the safety and quality of health care for all. We believe our work over the last year has kept us well aligned with this mission.

To our many partners, supporters and beneficiaries, we offer our sincere gratitude for helping make these efforts possible in 2024.