James C. Puffer MD

Dr. James C. Puffer served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) in Lexington, Kentucky from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2018. Dr. Puffer came to the ABFM from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he completed his undergraduate, medical school and family medicine residency training and where he enjoyed a faculty appointment for over 23 years. He joined the faculty of the School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine in 1979 after completing a family medicine residency at the UCLA Medical Center from 1976-1979. He received his medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine in 1976 and graduated with honors from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1972.

During his tenure at UCLA, he served as Family Medicine Residency Director from 1979-1981, Chief of the Division of Family Medicine from 1981-1997, and was instrumental in establishing eventual departmental status for the discipline in 1997. He served as the interim Chair of the new department from 1997 to 1998. He served as Professor and Chief of the Division of Sports Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine from 1998 to 2002. Since completing his tenure at the ABFM, he has returned to UCLA on faculty recall status as an Emeritus Professor in the Division of Sports Medicine and provides care for intercollegiate athletes.

Dr. Puffer, recognized as an international authority in Sports Medicine, served as Head Team Physician to the 1988 United States Summer Olympic Team that competed in Seoul and as physician to 1984 the United States Winter Olympic Team that competed in Sarajevo. He served as a team physician to the UCLA Department of Intercollegiate Athletics from 1979 until his departure from UCLA in June of 2002.

Dr. Puffer was Editor-in-Chief of Sports Medicine Digest from 1992 to 2002 and Associate Editor of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise from 1989-1998. He has served on the editorial board of no fewer than ten journals. He has published one book, nearly 150 scientific articles, and book chapters, and presented over 600 lectures.