Washington DO CME requirements

At a glance: DO (osteopathic physician)

Hours

150 hours every 3 years

Renewal cycle

Every 3 years

Deadline

Your birthday, every year; the 150 hours are counted over the 36 months before the renewal at which you report them

Required topics

3

Hours carry over

No

First renewal

Confirm with your Board The osteopathic rules set no first-renewal waiver or proration, and they do not say when a new licensee first reports the 150 hours. The one-time suicide prevention and opioid prescribing trainings are due within your first CE cycle after initial licensure (WAC 246-853-065, 246-853-685). Confirm your first reporting date with the Board.

Credit minimum

Confirm with your Board WAC 246-853-070(1): at least 60 of the 150 hours must be Washington Category 1 (1-A formal programs, 1-B scientific papers, 1-C teaching). The Department of Health page says at least 60 hours must be Category 1-A. The remaining 90 may be from any category.

Home study

Confirm with your Board WAC 246-853-070(2)(b): at most 90 credits per three years for Category 2-A home study (journal reading, audio programs, home study courses). Interactive online courses that assign credits from recognized organizations are Category 1-A, not home study.

Reporting

You sign a declaration of compliance at renewal (WAC 246-12-180). Up to 25 percent of practitioners are audited at random after renewal; you have 60 days to send documentation such as certificates or transcripts, or face possible discipline (WAC 246-12-190, 246-12-200). Keep records of attendance and the learning for four years (WAC 246-12-200). The Board does not pre-approve courses (WAC 246-853-090).

Board

Washington Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery

WAC 246-853-990: osteopathic licenses renew every year on your birthday (WAC 246-12-030). WAC 246-853-080(1): 150 hours every three years; WAC 246-853-070: the credits must be earned in the 36 months before the renewal application. The rules do not say at which annual renewal the three-year total is reported; confirm with the Board. Instead of the hours you may: certify or recertify with ABOMS or ABMS within the last six years; meet maintenance of certification requirements of an ABOMS or ABMS member board at renewal (added by WSR 26-16-042, effective August 30, 2026); hold a current AOA certificate of excellence in CME; or hold a current AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Excess hours do not carry forward (WAC 246-12-230).

Deadline

In Washington, the date depends on your license: your birthday, every year; the 150 hours are counted over the 36 months before the renewal at which you report them.

Find your Washington DO deadline and add it to your calendar

Required topics

• Suicide assessment, treatment, and management6 hours · Once · Every licensee
  WAC 246-853-065 and RCW 43.70.442: a one-time training of at least six hours from the Department of Health's model list, due by the end of your first full CE reporting period after initial licensure. It counts toward the 150 hours. Osteopathic physicians holding a postgraduate training limited license are exempt.
• Health equity (including implicit bias)2 hours · Once every 4 years · Every licensee
• Best practices in opioid prescribing and the opioid prescribing rules1 hour · Once · Only some physicians — see the rule note
  WAC 246-853-685: to prescribe an opioid in Washington, an osteopathic physician licensed to prescribe opioids completes a one-time course of at least one hour on best practices in opioid prescribing and the current opioid prescribing rules, by the end of the first full CE reporting period after initial licensure. It counts toward the 150 hours.

Credit that counts

• AOA Category 1-AWAC 246-853-070(1)(a): Washington's Category 1-A is formal education programs from nationally recognized osteopathic or medical organizations, naming the AOA and AMA, accredited schools and hospitals, specialty societies, CME institutes and interactive online courses that assign credits.
• AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™WAC 246-853-070(1)(a)(i): programs of formal medical associations including the American Medical Association count as Category 1-A.
• AOA Category 1-B Confirm with your BoardWashington defines its own categories. Its Category 1-B is preparing and presenting an original scientific paper (up to 10 credits per paper, 15 if published) and Category 1-C is teaching (up to 45 credits per three years); both count toward the 60-hour Category 1 minimum. AOA Category 1-B credit is not the same thing; confirm how an AOA 1-B activity is classified.
• AAFP Prescribed credit Confirm with your BoardNot named in WAC 246-853-070. Category 1-A includes programs of 'specialty practice organizations', which appears to cover AAFP activities; confirm with the Board.