Massachusetts · MD and DO
Massachusetts: Implicit bias in health care
MD: 2 hours, every renewal · DO: 2 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
- 2 hours
- How often
- Every renewal
- Who
- Every licensee
- Renewal cycle
- Renews every 2 years; licenses expire on your birthday every second year (which years depends on when you were first licensed).
- Board
- Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine
- The rule
- Confirm with your Board Board Policy 2021-04 (as reported by the FSMB and the Massachusetts Medical Society): since June 1, 2022, initial applicants and renewing licensees complete 2 credits on implicit bias in health care; they may be applied to the risk management credits. The Board's own policy text could not be retrieved (mass.gov blocked automated access), so confirm whether it is due at every renewal.
DO (osteopathic physician)
- Hours
- 2 hours
- How often
- Every renewal
- Who
- Every licensee
- Renewal cycle
- Renews every 2 years; licenses expire on your birthday every second year (which years depends on when you were first licensed).
- Board
- Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine
- The rule
- Confirm with your Board Board Policy 2021-04 (as reported by the FSMB and the Massachusetts Medical Society): since June 1, 2022, initial applicants and renewing licensees complete 2 credits on implicit bias in health care; they may be applied to the risk management credits. The Board's own policy text could not be retrieved (mass.gov blocked automated access), so confirm whether it is due at every renewal.
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
Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey. Every state that requires it
Sources
- 243 CMR 2.06, License Renewals (Cornell LII copy; last amended eff. January 7, 2020)
- 243 CMR 2.01, Definitions — risk management study (Cornell LII copy)
- Board of Registration in Medicine Policy 2017-05, A CME Pilot Program (amended December 19, 2019; copy hosted by the Massachusetts Medical Society)
- M.G.L. c. 112, s. 2 — birthday renewal, EHR proficiency, Alzheimer's training
- M.G.L. c. 112, s. 264 — domestic and sexual violence training
- M.G.L. c. 119, s. 51A(k) — child abuse and neglect training
- FSMB — Continuing Medical Education Board-by-Board Overview (updated August 2026)
- Massachusetts Medical Society — CME requirements for physician license renewal in Massachusetts
- M.G.L. c. 94C §18 — Issuance of registration; prescriber education
- Massachusetts DPH — Criteria and application for DPH-approved domestic and sexual violence training (Chapter 260)
MD facts last verified October 8, 2026 · DO facts last verified October 8, 2026.