American Board of Obesity Medicine Foundation

A New Practice Analysis Defines the Body of Knowledge for Obesity Medicine During Obesity Week 2024, ABOM Vice-Chair, Dr. Wickham presented the results of ABOM's 2023 Practice Analysis during the symposium, "Obesity Care (R)evolution." A practice analysis defines the content and breadth of a field of medicine, which is conducted periodically to remain up-to-date given the evolving nature of science and clinical practice. Dr. Wickham shared ABOM's three-phase process that included a practice analysis panel, validation surveys, and development of the content outline and examination blueprint. Concurrent with Dr. Wickham's presentation at Obesity Week, an article was published in?Obesity Pillars describing the practice analysis process in detail – "Duties, tasks, knowledge and skills of an obesity medicine physician: A practice analysis." The new ABOM content outline and examination blueprint are also now available online, which will go into effect for the 2025 ABOM certification exam.

Primary Care Experience Redesigned by People Living with Obesity - Presented at Obesity Week 2024 At Obesity Week 2024, research was presented that engaged people living with obesity to redesign their primary care experience. The team used a co-design approach where people living with obesity worked with experience design experts to conceptualize an ideal primary care experience, which was communicated through a combination of images and text. Next, the team conducted a survey to determine whether the scenario created captures the ideal redesigned primary care experience among a sample of people across the United States. Participants in this survey rated the overall experience quality in the scenario significantly higher than that experienced at their last primary care visit. The top rated features of the ideal scenario were respectful and caring treatment by the clinician, the clinician really listening to the patient, and being referred to specialists that also treat patients living with obesity with respect and care. "It was an honor to be a part of this important work," said Dr. Kimberly Gudzune, Chief Medical Officer of the ABOM Foundation. "Our findings speak to the need for compassionate and unbiased care across settings. In particular, patients' desire for referral to respectful and caring specialists may prompt clinicians to include this attribute when considering care for their patients." This work represents a collaboration between the Obesity Action Coalition, Thoughtform, ABOM Foundation, and other leading experts in obesity.

ABOM Foundation Funded Research Presented at Obesity Week 2024 Presented at Obesity Week 2024, Dr. Marci Laudenslager from Johns Hopkins developed two obesity medicine curricula and prospectively examined outcomes among residents. One group of residents participated in an online curriculum that consisted of on-demand modules, self-assessment quizzes and other tools, while the other group took part in a two-week obesity medicine elective rotation that also included access to the online curriculum. After taking part in either curricula, over 90% of residents reported being interested in obesity medicine -- over 80% of elective residents reported that they were likely to pursue additional training in obesity medicine. Both curricula significantly increased residents' self-efficacy in multiple obesity care domains and self-reported clinical practice habits key for obesity treatment. Dr. Laudenslager received a grant from the ABOM Foundation to support this work.