Completion of required CME is reported during registration. Physician assistants need to complete at least 40 credits of continuing medical education every 24 months. (24 month timeline is in relation to the biennial registration period, not the calendar year).
Mandatory CE Tracking for ALL TMB licensees begins September 1, 2026. See Continuing Education Tracking for additional information.
The Texas Medical Board has partnered with CE Broker, an online continuing education compliance platform, to ensure ALL TMB licensees can meet the state's statutory continuing education coursework requirements, including mandatory CE tracking. TMB and CE Broker are continuing to refine the platform for Texas licensees, including updates and streamlining the reporting process for all license types.
Forensic Examinations:
The 89th Texas Legislature approved House Bill 47 which requires physicians and physician assistants (PAs) renewing on or after 9/1/2026, whose practice includes treating patients in an emergency room setting, to complete two hours of continuing medical education relating to forensic evidence collection.
Courses used to complete this requirement may be formal or informal, as determined by the course provider. A list of acceptable courses will be posted on this page as they become available. Courses used to complete this requirement may be formal or informal, as determined by the course provider. A list of acceptable courses will be posted on the TMB website as they become available. None are available at this time but will be by 9/1/2026.
As a reminder, physicians and PAs will be required to report forensic evidence collection coursework to CE Broker for renewal purposes. Licensees who do not treat patients in emergency rooms and aren't required to complete the forensic evidence CE can submit an attestation on the CE Broker platform—stating "Not Working in an ER Setting"—which will automatically remove this requirement from their continuing education list.
At least 20 credit hours must be formal Category I credit provided by a CME sponsor that has been approved by the American Academy of Physician Assistants.
Helpful documents:
• PA CME Hours Requirement Chart
During the 86th legislative session, in an effort to combat the opioid crisis in Texas, there were multiple bills passed requiring physicians, physician assistants and other licensees to complete certain specific opioid related continuing medical education. At least 2 hours are required for any PA who:
• has a prescriptive authority agreement authorizing prescribing of opioids, or
• has authorization to access the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP)
Helpful documents:
• PA CME Hours Requirement Chart
House Bill 2059 (86th Legislature) requires physicians, physician assistants, and any licensee of the TMB’s advisory boards or committees that provide direct patient care, to complete a human trafficking prevention course approved by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). This requirement applies to the renewal of a license on or after September 1, 2020.
HHSC is the approving body for the human trafficking prevention requirement. HB 2059 requires HHSC to approve training courses on human trafficking, including at least one that is free of charge, post a list of approved trainings on its website and update the list of approved trainings as necessary.
HHSC now has an approved course available, which is free of charge, that satisfies the requirements for all licensees impacted by HB 2059.
- See HHSC's Health Care Practitioner Human Trafficking Training page to access the approved courses and for more information about this requirement.
Helpful documents:
• PA CME Hours Requirement Chart
The remaining 20 credit hours may be from Category II, composed of:
- Informal self-study,
- Attendance at hospital lectures,
- Grand rounds, or
- Case conferences and
These shall be recorded in a manner that can be easily transmitted to the board upon request.
Helpful documents:
• PA CME Hours Requirement Chart
The 89th Texas Legislature approved House Bill 47 which requires physicians and physician assistants (PAs) renewing on or after 9/1/2026, whose practice includes treating patients in an emergency room setting, to complete two hours of continuing medical education relating to forensic evidence collection.
Courses used to complete this requirement may be formal or informal, as determined by the course provider. A list of acceptable courses will be posted on this page as they become available. Courses used to complete this requirement may be formal or informal, as determined by the course provider. A list of acceptable courses will be posted on the TMB website as they become available. None are available at this time but will be by 9/1/2026.
As a reminder, physicians and PAs will be required to report forensic evidence collection coursework to CE Broker for renewal purposes. Licensees who do not treat patients in emergency rooms and aren't required to complete the forensic evidence CE can submit an attestation on the CE Broker platform—stating "Not Working in an ER Setting"—which will automatically remove this requirement from their continuing education list.
The requirement is directed at physician assistants working in the ER or urgent care centers seeing and treating patients that may require collection of forensic evidence.
If an excess of the 40 hours are completed prior to registration, the excess hours may be applied to the following years' requirements, except for the required course in human trafficking prevention. The course in human trafficking prevention must be completed prior to each renewal.
There is a maximum of 80 total excess credit hours that may be carried forward and a limit of two years from the date of the registration following the period during which the hours were earned. Excess hours are applied/reported according to their Category. See Board Rule 183.16 for additional information.
Maintenance of NCCPA Certification
A licensee shall be presumed to have complied with the formal and informal hours requirement of this section if the licensee is meeting the certification maintenance requirements set forth by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).
PLEASE NOTE: This provision exempts the physician assistant from some CME requirements – see PA CME Hours Requirement Chart for details.
Exemptions
A licensee may request in writing an exemption* for the following reasons:
- The licensee's catastrophic illness;
- The licensee's military service of longer than one year's duration outside the United States;
- The licensee's residence of longer than one year's duration outside the United States; or
- Good cause shown submitted in writing by the licensee that gives satisfactory evidence to the board that the licensee is unable to comply with the requirement for continuing education.
*Exemptions are reviewed on a case by case basis and must be requested in writing at least 30 days prior to the expiration date of the license. An exemption may not exceed one registration period, but may be renewed, subject to approval.
Helpful Document
As part of its 2016-2017 review, the Sunset Advisory Commission adopted a non-statutory management action directing TMB to dedicate one page of its quarterly bulletin to three topics in continuing medical education that the Board considers relevant; at least one of the annual 12 continuing medical education topics must be related to tick-borne diseases, including Lyme disease.
DISCLAIMER: The information displayed here is provided as a courtesy. The TMB makes no guarantee to the quality of providers’ content, fulfillment of credit hours for license requirement purposes, or ensuring compliance with the terms of any board order or rules.
For more continuing education opportunities and providers, please see the following links below:
No. You will need to provide these documents if you are selected in a random CME audit conducted after each registration period or if you receive a written request from Board staff to present these documents.
Yes. A licensee shall be presumed to have complied with the formal and informal hours requirement if the licensee is meeting the certification maintenance requirements set forth by the NCCPA.
PLEASE NOTE: This provision exempts the physician assistant from some CME requirements – see PA CME Hours Requirement Chart for details.
If your pro-rated initial registration is for less than 12 months, you are exempt from the CME requirement until your subsequent registration.
No. CME is required every 2 years for Texas Physician Assistant Board and is calculated from expiration date to expiration date. It is also every 2 years for the NCCPA, but it may not be on the same schedule. In addition, you should check with the NCCPA for their current CME requirements.
A PA may carry forward a maximum of 80 total excess CME credit hours (40 hours in each category) for up to two years. The course in human trafficking prevention must be completed prior to each renewal.
