Iowa · MD and DO
Iowa: Nutrition and metabolic health (listed specialties)
MD: 1 hour, once every 4 years · DO: 1 hour, once every 4 years.
Last verified against the sources below. Requirements change — confirm with your Board before you rely on this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
MD (medical doctor)
- Hours
- 1 hour
- How often
- Once every 4 years
- Who
- Only some physicians — see the rule note
- Renewal cycle
- Renews every 2 years; licenses expire on the first day of your birth month, every two years — in even-numbered years if you were born in an even-numbered year, odd-numbered years if born in an odd-numbered year.
- Board
- Iowa Board of Medicine
- The rule
- Confirm with your Board 2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1129 (H.F. 2676, approved May 20, 2026), Division II, adds Iowa Code § 148.3(5): the Board shall adopt rules requiring licensees practicing family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, endocrinology, gastroenterology, cardiology, oncology, rheumatology, neurology, nephrology, dermatology, pulmonology, surgery, immunology, hematology, obstetrics or gynecology to complete at least one hour of continuing education on nutrition and metabolic health every four years as a condition of renewal. The Board has not yet adopted the rule (481 IAC 654 does not include it as of 2026-10-08), so the start date, accepted providers and content are not set — confirm with the Board.
DO (osteopathic physician)
- Hours
- 1 hour
- How often
- Once every 4 years
- Who
- Only some physicians — see the rule note
- Renewal cycle
- Renews every 2 years; licenses expire on the first day of your birth month, every two years — in even-numbered years if you were born in an even-numbered year, odd-numbered years if born in an odd-numbered year.
- Board
- Iowa Board of Medicine
- The rule
- Confirm with your Board 2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1129 (H.F. 2676, approved May 20, 2026), Division II, adds Iowa Code § 148.3(5): the Board shall adopt rules requiring licensees practicing family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, endocrinology, gastroenterology, cardiology, oncology, rheumatology, neurology, nephrology, dermatology, pulmonology, surgery, immunology, hematology, obstetrics or gynecology to complete at least one hour of continuing education on nutrition and metabolic health every four years as a condition of renewal. The Board has not yet adopted the rule (481 IAC 654 does not include it as of 2026-10-08), so the start date, accepted providers and content are not set — confirm with the Board.
Facts marked “Confirm with your Board” are unsettled in the sources; the note says what to check.
What to do next
Other states that require it
Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Texas, West Virginia. Every state that requires it
Sources
- Iowa Board of Medicine (Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing) — Continuing education for physicians
- 481 IAC chapter 654 — Continuing education and training requirements (formerly 653 IAC ch. 11; ARC 9114C, effective May 21, 2025; IAC 9/30/26)
- 481 IAC chapter 652 — Permanent and administrative medicine physician licensure (expiration and renewal, 652.10–652.14)
- Iowa Code § 272C.2 — Continuing education requirements
- Iowa Code § 232.69 — Mandatory reporters of child abuse; training
- Iowa Code § 235B.16 — Dependent adult abuse; training of mandatory reporters
- 2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1129 (H.F. 2676) — nutrition and metabolic health CE (Iowa Code § 148.3(5))
MD facts last verified October 8, 2026 · DO facts last verified October 8, 2026.