Connecticut physician (MD and DO) CME requirements for license renewal

This guide covers physicians licensed in Connecticut. The Department of Public Health licenses MDs and DOs under the same statute (Connecticut's separate osteopathic chapter was repealed), with the Connecticut Medical Examining Board as the physician board. The CME rule is in the statute itself: Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 20-10b.

The short version

Requirement	Hours	How often	Who
Total CME	50 contact hours	In the 24 months before each annual renewal	Every MD and DO (not at the first renewal)
Infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS	1	Once every six years	Every MD and DO
Risk management (including controlled-substance prescribing and pain management)	1	Once every six years	Every MD and DO
Sexual assault	1	Once every six years	Every MD and DO
Domestic violence	1	Once every six years	Every MD and DO
Cultural competency	1	Once every six years	Every MD and DO
Behavioral health	1	Once every six years	Every MD and DO

The six topic hours count toward the 50.

How many hours, and what kind

Sec. 20-10b(b) says a licensee applying for renewal "shall earn a minimum of fifty contact hours of continuing medical education within the preceding twenty-four-month period." A contact hour is at least 50 minutes. The CME must be in an area of your practice and reflect your professional needs.

The statute lists qualifying activities, but the list is open ("include, but are not limited to"):

• courses offered or approved by the AMA, the American Osteopathic Association, the Connecticut Hospital Association, the Connecticut State Medical Society, the Connecticut Osteopathic Medical Society, county medical societies or equivalent organizations in another state;
• educational offerings sponsored by a hospital or other health care institution;
• courses offered by a regionally accredited academic institution or a state or local health department.

The statute does not require Category 1 credit specifically, and it applies to MDs and DOs alike, so both AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ and AOA Category 1-A credit qualify.

AAFP Prescribed credit is not named. Because the list is open and includes equivalent organizations, and the AMA accepts AAFP Prescribed credit as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, it should qualify, but confirm with the Department of Public Health if most of your hours are AAFP Prescribed. AOA Category 1-B is not named separately either.

Service on the Connecticut Medical Examining Board or a medical hearing panel, or helping the Department with its board duties, can earn a waiver of up to ten contact hours.

The mandatory topics

Six topics, at least one hour each, once every six years

Sec. 20-10b(b)(3) requires at least one contact hour in each of these topics "during the first renewal period in which continuing medical education is required and not less than once every six years thereafter":

1. Infectious diseases, including AIDS and HIV.
2. Risk management, including prescribing controlled substances and pain management, and screening for inflammatory breast cancer and gastrointestinal cancers (colon, gastric, pancreatic, neuroendocrine and other rare gastrointestinal tumors). For registration periods beginning on or after October 1, 2022, it may also include screening for endometriosis.
3. Sexual assault.
4. Domestic violence.
5. Cultural competency, including the effects of systemic racism, explicit and implicit bias, racial disparities, and the experiences of transgender and gender diverse persons on patient diagnosis, care and treatment (added in 2022).
6. Behavioral health.

Because the first renewal is exempt from CME, the first time these topics are due is the renewal after that. Then plan on repeating each one at least once in every six-year span.

Behavioral health: one hour or two?

The current statute (as amended in 2022) says behavioral health CME "may include" at least two contact hours on suicide prevention, or on diagnosing and treating cognitive conditions (Alzheimer's disease, dementia, delirium, related cognitive impairment and geriatric depression) or mental health conditions common to veterans and their families. Veterans' mental health training must cover how to tell whether a patient is a veteran or a veteran's family member, screening for post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide risk, depression and grief, and suicide prevention.

The Department's CME page still describes the two veterans' hours as required, which matches older wording of the law. One hour of behavioral health meets the statute as written today; if you want to be safe, take two hours on one of the listed subjects, or confirm with the Department.

Federal requirement

The federal DEA requires a one-time 8-hour training on treating and managing patients with opioid or other substance use disorders (the MATE Act) when you first register or renew a DEA registration. It is a federal requirement, separate from Connecticut's rules.

When your license expires

Connecticut physicians renew every year in their birth month (Sec. 19a-88(b)). The Department says most licenses first expire in the first birth month after the license is issued, and a license expires on the last day of your birth month. Renewal is online, and physicians get renewal notices by email only.

After expiration there is a 90-day grace period in which you may keep practicing and renew. On the 91st day the license becomes void. To reinstate a void license you need 25 contact hours of CME earned in the year before you apply (Sec. 20-10b(g)).

Although you renew every year, the 50 hours are counted over the 24 months before each renewal, so the window moves forward a year at a time.

Your first renewal

Sec. 20-10b(d): "A licensee applying for the first time for license renewal ... is exempt from the continuing medical education requirements." No hours are due at the first renewal. The full 50 hours and the six topics start with the second renewal.

Exemptions, waivers and extensions

• Not in active practice. If you are not practicing in any form during a registration period, you can apply for an exemption on a notarized form before the period ends. To return, you need 25 contact hours in the 12 months before returning if you were exempt for less than two years, or the FSMB Special Purpose Examination (SPEX) if exempt for two years or more.
• Medical disability or illness. The Department may grant a waiver or an extension for up to one registration period, with a physician's certification. You can apply again if the condition continues.

Reporting and audits

You sign a statement on the renewal form attesting that you met the requirement (Sec. 20-10b(c)). Keep attendance records or certificates for at least six years after the year you completed each activity, and send them to the Department within 45 days of a request.

Recent and pending changes

The 2026 Supplement to the General Statutes (covering the 2025 session) did not amend Sec. 20-10b, and the Office of Legislative Research's summary of 2026 acts affecting health professions lists no change to physician CME. A 2025 bill to cut back the mandatory topics (SB 255) did not become law.

Checklist before you renew

1. Note your birth month: your license expires on its last day each year.
2. Count at least 50 contact hours earned in the 24 months before this renewal (skip this at your first renewal).
3. Check the six topics: have you done at least one hour of each in the last six years (or since your first CME renewal)?
4. Keep certificates for six years after the year of each activity.
5. Renew online before the end of your birth month.

Requirements change. This guide was checked against the sources below in October 2026; confirm with the Board (through the Department of Public Health) before you rely on it.