If you are deciding between a conference and an online CME course, the first question is usually whether the credit counts the same. For AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, it does: the format changes how credit is calculated, not what kind of credit you earn.
The short answer
- Live activities and enduring materials (on-demand online courses, recorded lectures, podcasts) can both be certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ by an accredited provider.
- A live webinar counts as a live activity under AMA rules. A recorded or on-demand course counts as an enduring material.
- Live credit is based on the time you spend in the session. Enduring credit is based on the average time a sample of learners needs to finish the material.
- Most boards care about the credit type and the accreditor, not the format, but a few attach format conditions to specific required courses, so check your own board.
- Live events still offer things online CME can’t fully match, especially hands-on skills training and real-time discussion.
What the AMA and ACCME say about format
The AMA’s Physician’s Recognition Award and credit system booklet lists several learning formats that accredited providers can certify for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Two of them cover almost everything clinicians mean by “live” and “online”: live activities and enduring materials.
The AMA defines a live activity as one that “occurs at a specific time as scheduled by the accredited CME provider.” Participation can be in person or remote, and the booklet names live internet webinars as an example of remote participation. An enduring material is an activity that “endures over a specified time” and has no set time or place, so you decide when to complete it.
The ACCME uses the same split. It describes an enduring material as “an on-demand activity,” with online interactive modules, recorded presentations, printed materials, and podcasts as examples. It says a live course “can either be classified as an in-person event or live-streamed via an online platform.”
So “online CME” is not one category. A live-streamed session is live CME that happens to be online. A self-paced course you take on your own schedule is an enduring material. Both can carry the same Category 1 designation. (For a refresher on what that credit is and who can award it, see our AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ explainer.)
How credit is calculated in each format
The real difference between formats is the math. Here is how the AMA booklet handles each one.
| Live activity | Enduring material | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Conferences, workshops, live webinars | On-demand online modules, recorded lectures, podcasts |
| When you participate | At a scheduled time set by the provider | Whenever you choose during the activity’s lifespan |
| How credit is set | Formal interaction time between faculty and audience; 60 minutes equals 1 credit | Average time a small sample of the target audience needs to complete it |
| Increments | 0.25 credit (15 minutes) | 0.25 credit (15 minutes) |
| What you claim | Credit matching your actual participation time | The designated credit, once you successfully complete the activity |
| Credit type | AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ if certified by an accredited provider | AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ if certified by an accredited provider |
One practical consequence: at a live meeting, you claim only the time you actually attended, so skipped sessions don’t count. With an enduring material, you earn the designated amount when you complete it, including any required assessment.
Do boards treat online CME differently?
For most licensing purposes, boards look at whether the credit is Category 1 (or an accepted equivalent) and whether it came from a recognized accreditor. Format usually isn’t part of the rule.
The Medical Board of California, for example, requires 50 hours of CME per biennial renewal from a Board-recognized provider and does not specify a format for those hours. The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, answering whether a required course has to be live, says it “may be live, through the internet or any other method as long as the activity confers AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.”
Some boards do attach format conditions to particular courses, though. The Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine requires a 1-hour course on Florida Laws and Rules/Professional and Medical Ethics and a 2-hour course on Prevention of Medical Errors at each biennial renewal. Its current rule says these “may be obtained in any format, including in a distance learning format, provided that the format includes an ability to interact with the presenter of the course.” A self-paced recorded course may not meet that condition, even though it would count toward general hours.
Rules like this change. Florida’s osteopathic rule previously required those courses to be live and participatory, and it has been amended several times. Before you rely on any format for a required topic, read your board’s current rule. Our CME requirements by state hub links to each board.
PAs, NPs, and CRNAs answer to their own certifying bodies, and those bodies set their own credit rules. Check the requirements for your credential rather than assuming physician rules apply.
Where live CME has the edge
Live events have real advantages, and it’s fair to say so. Procedural and hands-on training, like simulation workshops, is hard to replicate on a screen. Live sessions also let you ask questions in the moment, hear how colleagues handle the same problems, and build professional relationships that a recording can’t give you.
There is also the structure. A scheduled meeting gets CME on your calendar and keeps you there. Some clinicians simply learn better in a room with an instructor, and that is a legitimate reason to choose live.
Where online CME has the edge
The case for online CME is mostly about control. You can study in short blocks between shifts, replay a lecture you didn’t follow the first time, and finish a course without arranging coverage or travel.
On-demand courses also make it easier to pick content that matches your actual practice gaps instead of whatever a conference schedules in a given hour. And you can spread your hours across the whole renewal cycle instead of cramming them into one trip.
The tradeoff is self-discipline. Nobody is going to remind you to finish a self-paced course, and you lose the live discussion. Many clinicians end up mixing the two: a meeting for hands-on skills and networking, and enduring materials to fill in hours and topics.
How to choose for your next cycle
- Start with your board’s current rules, and look for any format conditions on required topics.
- Confirm the activity is certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ (or the credit your board or certifying body accepts) by an accredited provider.
- Use live events for skills that need hands-on practice or real-time feedback.
- Use on-demand courses for flexible general hours and specialty updates.
- Keep every certificate, since boards can audit your records after renewal.
If self-paced study fits your schedule, Travel Medical Seminars offers Audio-Digest courses in family practice, internal medicine, and many other specialties. Audio-Digest lectures are individually designated for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ by the Lippincott Continuing Medical Education Institute, which is accredited by the ACCME, and you complete testing online at your own pace. You can browse all courses to see what fits your next cycle.
Sources
- AMA: The AMA Physician’s Recognition Award and credit system (booklet, 2017 revision)
- AMA: AMA PRA Credit System
- AMA: AMA PRA Credit System requirements
- ACCME: Enduring Material
- ACCME: Live Course Definition
- Medical Board of California: Continuing Medical Education
- Alabama Board of Medical Examiners: Continuing Medical Education Requirements for Licensees
- Florida Administrative Code Rule 64B15-13.001: Continuing Education for Biennial Renewal
- Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine: Osteopathic Physician Renewal