Kentucky · MD and DO
Kentucky: KASPER, pain management and addiction disorders (HB 1)
MD: 4.5 hours, every renewal · DO: 4.5 hours, every renewal.
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
- 4.5 hours
- How often
- Every renewal
- Who
- Physicians registered with the DEA
- Renewal cycle
- Renews every 3 years; licenses expire at December 31 of the cycle's last year; you then certify completion on the annual renewal due on or before March 1.
- Providers
- Only courses from providers named in the Board rule count.
- Board
- Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure
- The rule
- 201 KAR 9:310 Section 5: physicians authorized to prescribe or dispense controlled substances in Kentucky at any time during a three-year cycle complete at least 4.5 hours of Board-approved CME on the use of KASPER (Kentucky's prescription monitoring program), pain management, addiction disorders, or a combination, every cycle. Only programs approved in advance by the Board count; the Board lists them on its CME page. The Board's 2024–2026 schedule prorates it: 3 hours if first authorized in 2025, 1.5 hours if first authorized in 2026. Missing it leads to an emergency order restricting prescribing. Counts within the 60.
DO (osteopathic physician)
- Hours
- 4.5 hours
- How often
- Every renewal
- Who
- Physicians registered with the DEA
- Renewal cycle
- Renews every 3 years; licenses expire at December 31 of the cycle's last year; you then certify completion on the annual renewal due on or before March 1.
- Providers
- Only courses from providers named in the Board rule count.
- Board
- Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure
- The rule
- 201 KAR 9:310 Section 5: physicians authorized to prescribe or dispense controlled substances in Kentucky at any time during a three-year cycle complete at least 4.5 hours of Board-approved CME on the use of KASPER (Kentucky's prescription monitoring program), pain management, addiction disorders, or a combination, every cycle. Only programs approved in advance by the Board count; the Board lists them on its CME page. The Board's 2024–2026 schedule prorates it: 3 hours if first authorized in 2025, 1.5 hours if first authorized in 2026. Missing it leads to an emergency order restricting prescribing. Counts within the 60.
What to do next
Other states that require it
Sources
- Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure — Continuing Medical Education
- Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure — CME Requirement Schedule, current cycle January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2026 (PDF)
- Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure — Domestic Violence Requirement (PDF)
- 201 KAR 9:310 — Continuing medical education (certified effective February 26, 2025)
- 201 KAR 9:270 — Buprenorphine prescribing standards, 12 hours addiction medicine (effective January 22, 2026)
- 201 KAR 9:051 — Annual license renewal and registration (on or before March 1)
- KRS 194A.540 — Domestic violence and elder abuse training for primary care physicians and psychiatrists
- 2026 HB 412 (not enacted; shows current KRS 311.601 text on pediatric abusive head trauma)
MD facts last verified October 7, 2026 · DO facts last verified October 7, 2026.