New York CME Requirements for Physicians

If you’re checking New York CME requirements before your next renewal, here’s the part that surprises people: the state doesn’t set a general CME hour requirement for physicians. What it does require is a short list of mandated trainings, and missing one can hold up your registration or your hospital privileges.

We checked these requirements against the New York State Education Department Office of the Professions and New York State Department of Health websites. Rules change, so confirm with the Office of the Professions before your renewal.

The short answer

New York doesn’t require a set number of CME hours to renew a physician registration, and medicine isn’t on the Office of the Professions list of professions with a continuing education requirement.
Physicians re-register every two years.
Every physician practicing in New York must complete infection control and barrier precautions training at initial licensure and every four years after that.
Child abuse identification and reporting training is a one-time licensure requirement, but mandated reporters must complete updated coursework by November 17, 2026.
Physicians with a DEA registration need at least three hours of pain management, palliative care, and addiction training every three years.

Do New York CME requirements include a set number of hours?

No, not as a general hour count. The Office of the Professions publishes a list of professions that have a continuing education requirement in New York, and it includes dentistry, nursing-related fields, pharmacy, psychology, and others. Medicine isn’t on it.

Your New York license is good for life, but you have to register periodically to practice. For physicians the registration period is two years (other professions use three). Your second registration after licensure can be a shorter transitional period so the cycle lines up with your birth month.

The state does offer optional nutrition CME. Under Chapter 743 of the Laws of 2023, as amended by Chapter 97 of the Laws of 2024, the Education Department posts a nutrition resource library for physicians, and it states plainly that the coursework is not required.

Bills to add new training show up regularly. When we checked, Assembly Bill A319, which would require cultural competence training for physicians and other licensees, was still in committee. A bill isn’t a requirement until it’s signed and takes effect, so watch the Office of the Professions site rather than news headlines.

New York’s mandated training for physicians

These three trainings are where New York puts its weight. Each one has its own rules, its own agency, and its own way of proving completion.

Training	Who it applies to	How often	Proof
Infection control and barrier precautions	Physicians, physician assistants, and specialist assistants practicing in New York	At initial licensure and registration, then every four years	Keep your certificate; hospital-affiliated physicians file a copy with the hospital, others submit it to the Department of Health
Child abuse identification and reporting	Physicians applying for licensure or a limited permit	Once (two hours), plus updated mandated reporter coursework due November 17, 2026	Certification of Completion submitted to the State Education Department
Pain management, palliative care, and addiction	Prescribers with a DEA registration, and residents prescribing under a facility DEA number	At least three hours every three years	Online attestation to the Department of Health

Infection control and barrier precautions

Public Health Law Section 239 requires every physician, physician assistant, and specialist assistant practicing in the state to complete approved infection control coursework, then repeat it every four years. Medical students and residents complete it during orientation.

You can use a provider approved by either the State Education Department or the Department of Health. Providers must cover the core elements the two agencies approved jointly. If the nature of your practice makes the training unnecessary, you can request an exemption from the Department of Health’s Bureau of Healthcare Associated Infections, and an exemption has to be renewed every four years.

Child abuse identification and reporting

Physicians applying for licensure or a limited permit must document two hours of approved coursework in identifying and reporting child abuse and maltreatment. It’s a one-time requirement. If you graduated on or after September 1, 1990 from a program registered by New York State, the training was built into your program.

Training during residency doesn’t count. The Office of the Professions says a physician who attended an out-of-state program not registered by New York, then trained in a New York residency, still needs coursework from an approved provider. Physicians with no professional contact with minors (or with adults with a handicapping condition living in a residential care facility) can apply for an exemption.

The deadline to watch right now is November 17, 2026. Chapter 25 of the Laws of 2024 added content on identifying abuse or maltreatment of children with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and mandated reporters must complete the updated curriculum by that date, even if they took the training before. If you completed approved mandated reporter training between November 1, 2022 and August 31, 2025, the Office of the Professions says a short (15-minute) addendum is available through most approved providers. An earlier update under Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2021 had an April 1, 2025 deadline.

Pain management, palliative care, and addiction

Under Public Health Law Section 3309-a(3), prescribers who hold a DEA registration must complete at least three hours of coursework every three years. The Department of Health guidance requires the training to cover eight topics: state and federal requirements for prescribing controlled substances, pain management, appropriate prescribing, managing acute pain, palliative medicine, prevention, screening and signs of addiction, responses to abuse and addiction, and end of life care.

New prescribers must finish within one year of registration. You report completion through the Narcotic Education Attestation Tracker (NEAT) on the Department of Health’s Health Commerce System. The guidance accepts courses accredited by bodies including the ACCME and AOA, and the Department of Health sponsors a free course through the University at Buffalo.

This is separate from the federal one-time eight-hour substance use disorder training that DEA-registered practitioners must complete under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The Department of Health notes the federal rule is in addition to New York’s. If you want one course to count toward either requirement, check that it’s approved for that specific purpose before you enroll.

What hospitals and specialty boards may still require

No state hour requirement doesn’t mean no CME. Under Public Health Law Section 2805-k, a hospital must collect documentation of your required infection control training before granting or renewing privileges, and it can’t grant or renew privileges without it. Hospitals and health systems can also set their own CME expectations in medical staff bylaws, so ask your medical staff office what it expects at reappointment.

Specialty boards are the bigger driver for most physicians. Every ABMS member board has its own lifelong learning requirement for continuing certification, and the credit totals and cycle lengths vary a lot from board to board. Check your board’s current requirements directly. If you hold licenses in other states, those states may require CME hours even though New York doesn’t. Our CME requirements by state hub covers them one state at a time.

How to stay on track

Look up your registration expiration date with the Office of the Professions online license verification search.
Find the date on your last infection control certificate and set a reminder for four years out.
If you took mandated reporter training between November 1, 2022 and August 31, 2025, complete the addendum before November 17, 2026.
If you hold a DEA registration, confirm your last NEAT attestation date and plan your next three-hour course.
Ask your hospital and your specialty board for their current CME numbers and track credits toward them.

Since New York leaves CME hours to hospitals and boards, most physicians still earn credit every year. Travel Medical Seminars offers Audio-Digest self-study courses in a 10-credit short course and a 20-credit full course, designated for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ by the Lippincott Continuing Medical Education Institute, which is accredited by the ACCME. You study at your own pace and complete testing online. Read our guide to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit, or browse the internal medicine and family practice courses.

New York CME requirements for physicians