CME Requirements
CME Requirements Per State
Physician CME requirements by state — quick reference (reconciled October 20, 2026). General CME minimums, CME reporting periods, and medical-license renewal cycles can differ. Requirements for MDs, DOs, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, and controlled-substance registrants are not interchangeable. The table covers the 50 states and flags separate physician-board rules where relevant. For detailed exceptions and mandatory subjects, see our physician CME requirements guide and renewal-cycle guide. Always confirm applicability with your licensing board before enrollment or renewal.
| State / license | General CME requirement | CME period | License renewal | Key distinction / official reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 25 hours | Every year | Every year | ACSC holders: 2 hours of controlled-substance prescribing every 2 years. One-time board-designated professional-boundaries course; new licensees must complete it within 12 months. Official board rule / guidance |
| Alaska | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 2 hours pain management/opioid use for DEA holders Official board rule / guidance |
| Arizona (MD/DO) | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | DEA registrants: 3 hours of opioid, substance-use-disorder or addiction education each renewal. The MD and DO boards have different credit-category rules. Official board rule / guidance |
| Arkansas | 20 hours | Every year | Every year | At least 10 hours must be Category 1 in the physician's primary practice area; prescribing training may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| California (MD) | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | One-time 12-hour pain-management/end-of-life training, with statutory alternatives and exemptions. Official board rule / guidance |
| Colorado | 30 hours (first regular 2027 renewal) | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | General 30-hour requirement first applies at the regular 2027 renewal. Separate opioid-prescribing education/exemptions may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| Connecticut | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every year | 50 CME hours over 24 months despite annual license renewal; prescribed topic hours recur on a separate schedule. Official board rule / guidance |
| Delaware | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 2 hours controlled-substance prescribing Official board rule / guidance |
| Florida (MD) | 40 hours total | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40-hour total includes 2 hours of medical-error prevention. DEA prescribers and third-cycle renewals may have additional topic requirements; first-renewal exceptions apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| Florida (DO) | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | At least 20 AOA Category 1-A hours; medical errors, Florida laws/ethics, prescribing and first-renewal rules differ from MD requirements. Official board rule / guidance |
| Georgia | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 hours of board-approved CME every 2 years. Applicable controlled-substance prescribers: 3 hours once in a career; all physicians: 2 hours of professional-boundaries/sexual-misconduct CME once in a career. Official board rule / guidance |
| Hawaii | 40 hours Cat 1 | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 Category 1/1A hours every 2 years; MD and DO renewal dates differ. Verify credit type and your license renewal with the Hawaii Medical Board. Official board rule / guidance |
| Idaho | 40 hours Cat 1 | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 practice-relevant Category 1 hours per 2 years; qualifying specialty-board certification/recertification may substitute. Idaho began transitioning physician license renewals to birthdate-based biennial cycles in 2026. Official board rule / guidance |
| Illinois | 150 hours | Every 3 years | Every 3 years | 150 hours per three-year cycle; sexual harassment, implicit bias and other practice-specific training may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| Indiana | No general CME-hour minimum | No general CME period | Every 2 years | No general physician CME minimum. The former 2-hour state CSR opioid requirement expired July 1, 2025; federal DEA MATE requirements remain separate. Official board rule / guidance |
| Iowa | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 Category 1 hours every 2 years, with up to 20 eligible carryover hours. Child/dependent adult abuse and controlled-substance training may apply to specific practice activities. Official board rule / guidance |
| Kansas | 50 credits, or qualifying 100/150-credit option | Previous 18, 30 or 42 months | Every year | Choose 50 hours/18 months, 100/30 months or 150/42 months; Category I and III minimums vary by option. Official board rule / guidance |
| Kentucky | 60 hours | Every 3 years | Every year | 60 hours over 3 years, although license renewal is annual; applicable controlled-substance prescribers need additional approved training. Official board rule / guidance |
| Louisiana | 20 hours | Every year | Every year | 20 hours each year; first-renewal controlled-substance training requirements may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| Maine (MD) | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 hours in two years. Three hours of opioid/pain-management training remain required; qualifying board certification may count toward general hours. Official board rule / guidance |
| Maryland | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | One-time implicit-bias and structural-racism training. At the first renewal after April 1, 2026, structural-racism training must be completed; previously completed implicit-bias training need not be repeated. Official board rule / guidance |
| Massachusetts | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 10 hours risk management per renewal; 3 hours opioid/pain/substance-use training for applicable prescribers. One-time 2-hour implicit-bias and 2-hour end-of-life training. Official board rule / guidance |
| Michigan (MD) | 150 hours | Every 3 years | Every 3 years | 150 hours in 3 years; ethics, pain/controlled-substance training, and implicit-bias education have separate rules. Official board rule / guidance |
| Minnesota | 75 hours | Every 3 years | Every year | 75 Category 1 hours in three years; physician license renewal itself is annual. Official board rule / guidance |
| Mississippi | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every year | 40 Category 1 hours over two years with annual license renewal; check the board's 2026 reporting instructions. Official board rule / guidance |
| Missouri | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | At least 1 hour on the health benefits of nutrition within the 50-hour requirement every 2 years. A qualifying 40-hour course pathway with post-tests is an alternative under 20 CSR 2150-2.125. Official board rule / guidance |
| Montana | No general CME-hour minimum | No general CME period | Every 2 years | No general physician-license CME minimum. Federal DEA training and specialty-board rules may still apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| Nebraska | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 3 hours opioid/pain every cycle Official board rule / guidance |
| Nevada (MD) | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | Of 40 hours every 2 years, at least 20 must relate to the physician's specialty/scope and 2 must be in medical ethics. Prescribers and some specialties have additional required topics. Official board rule / guidance |
| New Hampshire | 100 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 100 hours per two-year renewal period, including Category 1 minimums; opioid-training requirements may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| New Jersey | 100 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 100 hours per two-year renewal; at least 40 Category 1 hours and topic-specific obligations. Official board rule / guidance |
| New Mexico (MD) | 75 hours | Every 3 years | Every 3 years | 75 hours per 3 years. Includes 1 hour reviewing the Medical Practice Act and board rules, and applicable 5-hour pain-management training. Verify proposed nutrition amendments against the current rule before relying on them. Official board rule / guidance |
| New York | No general CME-hour minimum | Topic-specific schedules | Registration every 3 years | No general physician CME-hour minimum. Infection-control and child-abuse mandated-reporter training are on separate schedules. Official board rule / guidance |
| North Carolina | 60 hours | Every 3 years | Every year | 60 Category 1 hours every 3 years despite annual license renewal. Applicable controlled-substance prescribers must complete 3 hours of qualifying prescribing education in each 3-year CME cycle. Official board rule / guidance |
| North Dakota | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every year | 40 board-approved CME hours every two years despite annual license renewal; qualifying alternatives may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| Ohio | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | Includes 1 hour of board-approved training on the duty to report professional misconduct each renewal. The board does not impose a blanket 2-hour controlled-substance course on every physician. Official board rule / guidance |
| Oklahoma (MD) | 60 hours | Every 3 years | Every year | 60 Category 1 hours over three years even though license renewal is annual; additional prescribing education may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| Oregon | 30 hours per year (60 over 2 years) | Every year | Every 2 years | 30 general CME hours per year (60 over a two-year period); additional pain-management and cultural-competency education applies. Official board rule / guidance |
| Pennsylvania (MD) | 100 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 100 hours per two years, including at least 20 Category 1 hours and 12 hours of patient safety/risk management; child-abuse training is separate. Official board rule / guidance |
| Rhode Island | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | For the 2026 renewal, the board allows 40 hours in any topic and specifies no recurring topic minimum. Separate federal DEA MATE and one-time statutory training obligations still apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| South Carolina | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 Category 1 hours every 2 years; at least 30 relate to the practice area and 2 cover controlled-substance prescribing/monitoring. The first renewal after initial permanent licensure is generally exempt. Official board rule / guidance |
| South Dakota | No general CME-hour minimum | No general CME period | Every 2 years | No general physician-license CME minimum. Physician assistants and DEA registrants have different obligations. Official board rule / guidance |
| Tennessee (MD) | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 hours during the 24 months before renewal, including 2 hours of controlled-substance prescribing education unless exempt. State law adds a nutrition topic requirement beginning January 2028; check board instructions. Official board rule / guidance |
| Tennessee (DO) | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 hours during the 24 months before renewal, including 2 hours of controlled-substance prescribing education unless exempt. AOA credit-category restrictions apply. Nutrition topic required beginning January 2028 under state law. Official board rule / guidance |
| Texas | 48 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | Includes 2 formal ethics/professional-responsibility hours. Official board rule / guidance |
| Utah | 40 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 40 hours per two-year cycle, including at least 34 Category 1 hours. Controlled-substance prescribers have additional training; DOPL requires an online suicide-prevention course. Official board rule / guidance |
| Vermont (MD) | 30 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | For November 2026 renewal, most physicians need 30 CME credits (AMA Category 1 or AAFP), including 1 hour hospice/palliative/end-of-life/pain management and 2 hours controlled-substance prescribing if DEA-registered. First renewals can require 0 or 15 hours depending on issue date. Official board rule / guidance |
| Virginia | 30 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 30 Type 1 CME hours in the preceding two years; first biennial renewal is exempt. Official board rule / guidance |
| Washington (MD) | 200 hours | Every 4 years | Every 2 years | 200 CME hours every four years even though MD license renewal is biennial; additional training applies to certain physicians. Official board rule / guidance |
| Washington (DO) | 150 hours | Every 3 years | Every year | 150 CE hours every three years with at least 60 Category 1-A; osteopathic license renewal is annual. Official board rule / guidance |
| West Virginia (MD) | 50 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 50 Category 1 hours every two years; at least 30 must relate to the specialty. Prescribing-related training may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
| West Virginia (DO) | 32 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 32 hours of AOA-approved CME every 2 years, at least 16 Category 1 hours. Nutrition education and prescribing-related education may apply. Different rules govern MD licenses. Official board rule / guidance |
| Wisconsin | 30 hours | Every 2 years | Every 2 years | 30 hours per two-year period; an opioid-prescribing topic requirement applies to some prescribers for the 2027 renewal. Official board rule / guidance |
| Wyoming | 60 hours | Every 3 years | Every year | 60 hours over three years, with annual license renewal; controlled-substance training may apply. Official board rule / guidance |
Important: The table summarizes general physician licensing minimums, not every license category, course-approval rule, waiver, renewal date, or current board notice. Specific mandatory topics can have one-time, multiyear, first-renewal, or prescribing-status conditions. The federal DEA MATE Act is separate from state CME-hour totals. If you hold an osteopathic license, verify the DO board's requirements. Each entry links to an official state board, statute, or administrative rule for independent verification. Requirements, effective dates, and exemptions can change. We intentionally do not publish a single generic license-expiration date for each state because deadlines can depend on profession, date of birth, license issue date, or the state's renewal cycle.
Florida physician assistants have a separate prescribing requirement: the applicable safe and effective controlled-substance prescribing course is 3 hours. The 2-hour physician course does not, by itself, complete that PA requirement.
For the full state-by-state breakdown, including credit categories, required topics, and board exceptions, visit the comprehensive physician CME requirements guide.