Continuing Medical Education

Oregon Medical Board Requirements

1. Requirements for Continuing Medical Competency (Education)
   Licensees who wish to renew their license must have demonstrated ongoing competency to practice medicine by one of the following methods:
    
   1. Ongoing participation in re-certification by an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) board, the American Osteopathic Association's Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (AOA-BOS), or the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA); or
   2. 60 hours of continuing medical education (CME) per two years relevant to the licensee's current medical practice as follows:
   • American Medical Association (AMA) Category 1;
   • American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Category 1-A; or
   • American Academy of Physician Assistants Category 1 (pre-approved)

   Prior to the new rule, Oregon was one of only three states that did not require CME for licensure.

2. Penalties for Failure to Comply with CME Requirements
   Licensees have 60 days from the date of the audit to provide course certificates.
   • If the licensee's CME is deficient, he or she will be fined $250 and must come into compliance within 120 days from the original date of the audit;
   • If after 120 days the licensee fails to comply, he or she will be fined $1,000; and
   • If after 180 days the licensee fails to comply, his or her license will be suspended for a minimum of 90 days.

   The following licensees are exempt from this rule:

   1. Licensees in residency training;
   2. Licensees serving in the military who are deployed outside Oregon for 90 days or more are exempt for that individual reporting period
   3. Volunteer Camp licensees

Other Considerations

1. Oregon doctors are reminded that they may be licensed in another state where there is a CME licensure requirement (including California and Washington) or who belong to a national specialty society such as the American Academy of Family Physicians or the American Psychiatric Association which have a CME membership requirement.
    
2. The Physicians Recognition Award of the AMA is recognized by nearly all state licensing boards and specialty societies, but there are a few exceptions. Physicians should check with any other state licensing boards from whom they hold a license and their specialty societies to determine if there are exceptions.

Guidelines to sponsor Continuing Medical Education "Credit"

1. CME credits may be assigned to a program only by an institutional sponsor accredited for this purpose according to standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), either nationally by the ACCME itself or in Oregon by the OMA's Institutional Accreditation Committee. The OMA cannot designate credits or arrange to have them designated because it is not accredited for this purpose and, as a matter of policy, does not encourage or discourage OMA accredited sponsors to jointly sponsor programs.  Only OMA accredited programs who hold a status of "full accreditation" may provide joint sponsorships.  Providers who are in "probation" status may not accredit a jointly sponsored program.
2. ACCME accredits national sponsors such as national specialty societies and medical schools.OMA accredits organizations within Oregon who offer CME primarily intended for physicians in Oregon and contiguous states (as do state medical societies in other states for their intrastate sponsors). There is no difference between accredited sponsors based on who accredits them.The standards are the same and are applied in the same manner. 
3. Fully accredited sponsors may jointly sponsor such programs and designate CME credit in association with non-accredited sponsors if they wish.They are not obligated to do so.A list of accredited sponsors is below. Please note OMA is not on the list. When jointly sponsoring, the accredited organization must be integrally involved in the planning and implementation of the activity in accordance with ACCME Criteria.This cannot happen with one phone call.A great deal of work and planning is implicit for both the accredited and the unaccredited organization. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask if you have a particularly good and interesting program in mind.
4. Maintaining accredited status is a challenging endeavor and requires great attention to detail and thorough documentation of activities. We do not recommend applying for accreditation unless the applicant produces or intends to produce a significant number of programs for physicians. Organizations interested in getting credit for a single activity (or even an occasional one) are best advised to arrange a joint sponsorship with an accredited institution or simply offer the activity without credit.
5. CME credit may be designated only for programs that are specifically designed for physicians and are intended to equip the physician to provide better patient care. 
6. "Intended to equip the physician to provide better patient care" means that the program must be about clinical medicine.  Some less clinically oriented programs intended to enhance the physician's efficiency or effectiveness might be designated for credit, but programs of interest to physicians but not about patient care cannot.
7. If American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)credit is desired, the organization designates their own credit on a course-by-course basis and credit is only valid for AAFP members. Contact Oregon Academy of Family Physicians (503) 528-0961 for further information. 

OMA Accredited CME Providers:

Adventist Medical Center (Portland) 

Bay Area Hospital (Coos Bay)

CME of Southern Oregon (Medford)

Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center (Corvallis)

Legacy Health System (Portland)

NW Permanente Dept. of Clinical and Leadership Education (Portland)

Oregon Academy of Ophthalmology (Portland)

Oregon Psychiatric Association (Salem)

Providence Medford Medical Center (Medford)

Providence Portland Medical Center (Portland)

Sacred Heart Medical Center (Springfield)

Salem Hospital (Salem)

Samaritan Albany Hospital (Albany)

Sky Lakes Medical Center (Klamath Falls)

Slocum Research & Education Foundation (Eugene)

St. Charles Health System (Bend)

Tuality Community Hospital (Hillsboro)