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Beth-Ann Kerber
Communications & Public Affairs
732-235-9680, bethann.kerber@rwjms.rutgers.edu
Communications & Public Affairs
732-235-9680, bethann.kerber@rwjms.rutgers.edu
Rutgers Faculty Leader Appointed to Board Overseeing USMLE
Dr. Alfred F. Tallia Chosen to Represent National Board of Medical Examiners 
New Brunswick, NJ—Dr. Alfred F. Tallia, professor and chair of family medicine and community health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, will play a new role in influencing how physicians are licensed in the United States.
This month, Dr. Tallia was appointed by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), to which he has belonged since 1996, to represent the organization as a regular member on the Composite Committee of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). A respected senior member of NBME, Dr. Tallia chaired the influential panel whose recommendations for substantive changes to the USMLE already have influenced medical education and physician licensure across the country.
The USMLE Composite Committee, appointed by the NBME and the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, establishes policies for the national medical licensing exam program. Dr. Tallia’s term will expire in 2017.
A board-certified family medicine practitioner, Dr. Tallia has been a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School faculty since 1982. Prior to becoming chair, Dr. Tallia served as vice chair and associate director of research, helping to foster growth of the department’s nationally ranked research, which focuses on the organization and quality of primary care in the health care system. Earlier in his career, he led development of the medical school’s flagship New Brunswick–based family medicine and community health residency, widely recognized for providing innovative community-based training for family physicians.
In 2010 he conceptualized and initiated development of Robert Wood Johnson Partners, the accountable care organization developed in partnership by Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the Robert Wood Johnson Health System, and community physicians. An innovative academic-clinical ACO model, RWJ Partners brings to bear the research and educational resources of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to solve contemporary problems in health care delivery for patients across the socioeconomic spectrum. Dr. Tallia currently serves as RWJ Partners’ executive director and is an executive committee member of the Washington-based Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, a coalition of Fortune 500 payers, providers and consumers advancing health care reform.
A member of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences' Master Educator’s Guild in recognition of his exceptional teaching skills, creativity and innovation in curriculum design and education delivery, Dr. Tallia serves in many university leadership roles and currently is a Fellow in the Rutgers Center for Organizational Development and Leadership.
A graduate of Fordham University, Dr. Tallia is an alumnus of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and received his master’s degree in public health from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
About Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
As one of the nation's leading comprehensive medical schools, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the medical school's principal affiliate, comprise one of the nation's premier academic medical centers. In addition, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 34 other hospital affiliates and ambulatory care sites throughout the region.
Part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School encompasses 20 basic science and clinical departments, hosts centers and institutes including The Cardiovascular Institute, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. The medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels on its campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway and provides continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs. To learn more about Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, visit rwjms.rutgers.edu. Find us online at www.facebook.com/RWJMedicalSchool and www.twitter.com/RWJMS.
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