California CME Requirements

Medical Board of California CME Requirements

State CME Requirements for California 

• 50 total hours every 2 years
• 12 CME hours on Pain Management And Appropriate Treatment of the Terminally Ill (One-time requirement).
• 10 hours of Geriatric Care are required for General Internists and Family Physicians with 25% or more of patients over the age of 65.

Required CME

Under California law, physicians and surgeons must complete at least 50 hours of approved Continuing Medical Education (CME) during each biennial renewal cycle.

Required CME on Pain Management and the Appropriate Treatment of the Terminally Ill

Most California-licensed physicians are required to take, as a one-time requirement, 12 hours of CME on pain management and the appropriate care and treatment of the terminally ill. Pathologists and radiologists are exempted from this requirement. The courses or programs must be presented by an organization accredited to provide CME by the ACCME, the AMA, the IMQ/CMA, or the AAFP.

In addition to accrediting CME providers, AMA, IMQ/CMA, and AAFP may also present CME programs that will be accepted.

The 12 units may be divided in any way that is relevant to the physician's specialty and practice setting. Acceptable courses may address either topic individually or both topics together. For example, one physician might take three hours of "pain management education" and nine hours of "the appropriate care and treatment of the terminally ill;" a second physician might opt to take six hours of "pain management" and six hours of "the appropriate care and treatment of the terminally ill;" a third physician might opt to take one 12-hour course that includes both topics.

The Medical Board will accept any combination of the two topics totaling 12 hours.

Physicians must complete the mandated hours by their second license renewal date or within four years, whichever comes first. The 12 required hours would count toward the 50 hours of approved CME each physician is required to complete during each biennial renewal cycle.

Required CME on Geriatrics for General Internists and Family Physicians

In order to ensure that physicians have the requisite knowledge and skills to competently treat California's older population, California law requires that general internists and family physicians who have a patient population of which over 25 percent are 65 years of age or older, are required to complete at least 20 percent of their mandatory CME in the field of geriatric medicine.

All other physicians are encouraged to take a course in geriatric medicine, including geriatric pharmacology, as part of their mandatory CME.

View Source: Medical Board of California: Continuing Medical Education

Osteopathic Medical Board of California CME Requirements

State CME Requirements for California

• 100 total hours every 2 years
• 40 Minimum of forty (40) hours must be AOA Category 1A or B

You will be required to submit documentation of the 100 hours in the two (2) years preceding your license renewal year.

The Board will waive 50 hours for each year of the CME period you spent in a residency or fellowship.

You will need to provide a copy of your diploma from the residency or fellowship (if completed) or a letter from your program director (if you are still attending the program) in order to claim this waiver.

Any years not spent in training during the CME cycle negates your ability to claim CME for that year.

You may receive .5 units of category 2 CME for each individual journal read.

You may self-report journal readings by listing the name of the journal, number of issues you read that year, and the number of years you read that journal.

Pain Management/Palliative Care CME is not necessarily AOA category 1A/B as it is usually non-osteopathic.

The Board must accept CME as it is reported on the certificate.

If it is listed as AMA, it will count as AOA category 2. In addition, some AOA conferences and activities held in California do have Pain Management/Palliative Care to specifically meet California CME requirements.

If you attend such an activity, the CME will count as both AOA 1 A/B and Pain Management/Palliative Care.

View Source: Osteopathic Medical Board of California