Louisiana MD CME requirements

At a glance: MD (medical doctor)

Hours

20 hours every year

Renewal cycle

Every year

Deadline

The first day of your birth month, every year

Required topics

4

Hours carry over

No

First renewal

Confirm with your Board The Board says new licensees do not have to meet the annual 20 hours when renewing for the first time, but must complete the Laws and Rules course and, if they hold a CDS license, the 3-hour CDS course. The rule (§447.A.2) words the exemption as a physician "who has held an initial Louisiana license on the basis of examination for less than one year"; confirm it applies if you were licensed by reciprocity or through the Compact.

Reporting

Louisiana requires CE Broker: ask each provider to report your completions to CE Broker (or upload them yourself), and you cannot renew until CE Broker shows the required hours and first-renewal courses (§439). Keep each certificate for at least four years from completion (§439.C; four years also for the CDS course under §4005.D). The Board may audit; answer within 30 days of the audit notice. Falsely certifying CME is grounds for discipline (§444).

Board

Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners

LAC 46:XLV §415 and §417: every license expires each year on the first day of the month in which the licensee was born and must be renewed on or before that date with documentation of the annual CME. §435: at least 20 hours of Board-approved CME each year (10 hours for a retired physician license under §417.D, added August 2025). A license expired less than a year can still be renewed online with a late fee.

Deadline

In Louisiana, the date depends on your license: the first day of your birth month, every year.

Find your Louisiana MD deadline and add it to your calendar

Required topics

• Laws and Rules for Physicians course Confirm with your Board2 hours · By the first renewal only · Every licensee
  LAC 46:XLV §449 (amended June 2025): before the first renewal, every physician completes the Board's online "Laws and Rules" course (Compact licensees within 90 days of the first renewal), credited hour for hour toward the annual CME. The current rule does not state the course length; the earlier version of the rule required an orientation program of at least two hours, and an April 2026 proposal would credit 3 hours. We plan 2 hours — confirm the credit shown in CE Broker.
• Prescribing controlled dangerous substances (CDS)3 hours · Once · Only some physicians — see the rule note
  A 2017 state law (as the Board describes it) and LAC 46:XLV §4005: every prescriber with a Louisiana CDS license completes, once, 3 hours of Board-approved CME on drug diversion, best practices in prescribing CDS, treatment of addiction and (for physicians) chronic pain, before the first license renewal. The Board offers a free 3-hour course that reports to CE Broker; another sponsor's Category 1 program is "deemed approved" only if the Board or its designee finds it adequately covers all required areas and the sponsor can submit proof of completion electronically to the Board (LAC 46:XLV §4007.B.1); you must ask the sponsor to report your completion electronically (§4007.D.1), and "CME which is not approved by the board shall not satisfy the CME requirement." It counts toward the annual hours. A prescriber who did not prescribe, administer or dispense any CDS in the year before renewal can request an exemption (residents cannot).
• Treatment of sickle cell disease (emergency medicine) Confirm with your Board1 hour · Once every 3 years · Only some physicians — see the rule note
  Act 744 of 2024 (R.S. 37:1270(A)(8), effective August 1, 2024): physicians practicing emergency medicine complete an initial 1-hour Board-approved course on treating sickle cell disease, then a 1-hour refresher at least every three years; the Board must post the course on its website. We found no Board rule, course or start date yet, and the Board's July 2026 requirements chart does not list it, so confirm with the Board when it is enforced.
• Nutrition and metabolic health (listed specialties) Confirm with your Board1 hour · Once every 4 years · Only some physicians — see the rule note
  Act 463 of 2025 (SB 14), R.S. 37:1270(A)(8)(b), effective January 1, 2026: physicians practicing family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, endocrinology, gastroenterology, cardiology, oncology, rheumatology, neurology, nephrology, dermatology, pulmonology, surgery, immunology, hematology, obstetrics or gynecology complete at least one hour of CE on nutrition and metabolic health every four years. The hour is included in, not added to, the annual CME total. The Board must set the content by rule; we found no adopted rule yet, so confirm with the Board how and when it is checked.

Credit that counts

• AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™LAC 46:XLV §437: Category 1 CME sponsored or offered by an ACCME-accredited organization, an ABMS member board, ACOG, the Louisiana State Medical Society or another ACCME-recognized state medical society is approved. The Board's chart: "20 Category 1 AMA or Board approved."
• AAFP Prescribed creditLAC 46:XLV §437.A.3 names the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) as an approved sponsor of Category 1 CME.
• AOA Category 1-A Confirm with your Board§437.A.5 names the American Osteopathic Association (and A.2 AOA-recognized specialty boards) as approved sponsors of Category 1 CME. AOA Category 1-A from AOA-accredited sponsors should count, but the rule's wording names the AOA itself; confirm with the Board.
• AOA Category 1-B Confirm with your BoardNot named. The rule approves Category 1 CME sponsored or offered by the listed organizations, including the AOA; whether self-directed AOA Category 1-B activities count is not stated, so confirm with the Board.