New York infection control training for physicians (every 4 years)

New York has no general CME hours for physicians, but it does have a short list of mandated trainings. The one every practicing physician meets again and again is infection control and barrier precautions, which comes due at first licensure and every four years after that. This guide covers who needs it, what the course must cover, where to find an approved provider and what to do with the certificate.

The short version

Who must take it, and how often

Public Health Law section 239 says physicians, physician assistants and specialist assistants practicing in New York must complete approved course work or training in infection control, "which shall include sepsis, and barrier precautions", on or before July 1, 1994 and every four years thereafter. NYSED's physician page puts it the same way: "at the time of their initial licensure/registration and every four years thereafter."

The same law also requires medical students, medical residents and physician assistant students to complete the training, as part of their orientation. If you trained in New York, find the date of that course: the four-year clock runs from your most recent approved training, and the Department of Health can confirm your next due date.

What the course must cover: the seven core elements

Approved providers must use the state's syllabus. NYSED's FAQ lists the core elements every course covers:

1. Your professional duty to follow accepted infection control practices, and to monitor the people you are responsible for.
2. How pathogens are transmitted in health care settings, and how to prevent it.
3. Engineering and work practice controls that reduce exposure to infectious material.
4. Choosing and using barriers and personal protective equipment.
5. Keeping the patient care environment safe through cleaning, disinfection and sterilization.
6. Preventing and controlling infectious disease among health care workers.
7. Sepsis awareness and education.

NYSED notes that neither the law nor the regulations set a minimum time; it expects "a minimum of two to four hours" to cover the content. Course work may be split into several sessions, and some approved providers offer it online. Two cautions from the FAQ: a course approved for another profession may not satisfy the physician requirement, and an OSHA-only infection control course is not equivalent.

Where to find an approved course

For physicians, the Department of Health approves providers: DOH-regulated health care facilities and physician or physician/specialist assistant organizations. DOH publishes its list of approved providers (linked in the sources below). Many hospitals run the course for their medical staff, so ask your medical staff office first.

Before you pay for any course, check that the provider is on the DOH list and that the course is meant for physicians. A course that is not from an approved provider does not count.

What to do with the certificate

The approved provider gives you a certificate of completion. What happens next depends on where you work:

• Affiliated with a hospital: do not send the certificate to DOH. NYSED's FAQ says physicians document completion to the DOH-regulated facilities where they are credentialed, so give a copy to your medical staff office and keep the original.
• Not affiliated with a hospital: send the certificate of completion to the Department of Health, and keep a copy.

Do not send the certificate to SED. For physicians, NYSED's FAQ says completion is documented to the DOH-regulated facilities where you are credentialed, or to DOH if you are not, and that this "has no effect on Education Department licensure." Keep the certificate at least until your next course is done; medical staff offices may ask for it at credentialing and recredentialing.

Exemptions

The law lets DOH grant an exemption to a physician who shows there is no need for the training because of the nature of their practice, or who completed training DOH deems equivalent. An exemption must be renewed every four years, just like the course. Physicians ask DOH's Bureau of Healthcare-Associated Infections for one.

If you have any patient contact, handle potentially contaminated material, or supervise people who do, plan on taking the course rather than asking for an exemption.

What happens if you miss it

Because physicians document the training to the facilities where they are credentialed, a lapsed course often surfaces at appointment or reappointment. NYSED's FAQ describes audits and professional-misconduct penalties for the licensees it oversees directly; how a lapse is handled for a physician is a question to confirm with the Board and DOH.

How it fits with New York's other mandates

Infection control is one of three New York trainings, each on its own clock: the child abuse identification and reporting course (the updated curriculum is due by November 17, 2026), and the 3-hour course on pain management, palliative care and addiction for physicians with a DEA registration, repeated every 3 years. Our New York physician CME requirements guide explains all three, and the New York deadline page shows your registration dates.

Checklist

1. Find the date of your last infection control course (or exemption). Add four years.
2. If that date falls before your next registration, book a course now.
3. Pick a provider from the DOH approved list, or your hospital's own course.
4. Save the certificate. Hospital-affiliated: keep it and give a copy to medical staff services. Not affiliated: send it to DOH.
5. Put the next due date, four years out, in your renewal planner.

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