How Does CME Work? Family Doctors (US)

Up to three bodies set your continuing medical education (CME) requirement: your state medical board, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM). The state board covers everyone licensed; AAFP applies only to its members; ABFM applies only to physicians it certifies. One course can count toward two of them and still leave the third short. Each body runs its own clock.

The state board sets the legal floor

Each state board writes its own rules. The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) tracks all 67 boards (some states split MD and DO licensing) and finds 63 requiring at least 15 hours a year. 55 of those boards also mandate CME on specific topics.

State	General requirement	Mandated topics
California	50 hours every 2 years	One-time 12-hour pain management course, inside the 50
Texas	48 credits every 24 months, half formal Category 1 or 1A	2 formal hours on ethics
Florida	40 hours every 2 years, including a 2-hour medical-errors course	2 hours on controlled substances if DEA-registered
New York	No set number of hours, per FSMB	Child-abuse course once; infection control every 4 years

Board certification counts toward the state requirement in California and Texas; FSMB counts only 28 of 67 boards as allowing any equivalent. Check your own state's page.

ABFM and board certification

ABFM certifies family medicine diplomates. Staying certified means staying enrolled in its program. Starting in 2025, ABFM moves diplomates into a Continuous Certification 5-Year Cycle, each entering in the year their next exam falls due. The transition has a backstop: no one enters earlier than ten years after last meeting their exam requirement.

ABFM requires three things each cycle.

CME. 200 credits over the cycle, with at least 100 from Division I. Division I covers formal, accredited activities: courses carrying AMA PRA Category 1, AAFP Prescribed, AAFP Elective, or certain AOA credit. The remaining 100 credits come from Division II, which covers informal activities such as teaching or journal reading. Division II cannot exceed half.

Certification points. 60 points through Self-Assessment and Performance Improvement activities. Quality-improvement projects count. So do self-assessment activities.

Cognitive assessment. Diplomates answer 25 quarterly questions through the longitudinal assessment, or sit a one-day exam in year four. Either satisfies the cycle's assessment requirement.

Track everything in the MyABFM Portfolio. AAFP membership is one route for automatic credit verification. Manual entry also works, subject to ABFM approval.

Requirement	Detail
Licensing body	Your state medical board
Certifying body	American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM)
Cycle	5 years, entering in the year your next exam falls due
Total CME	200 credits
Division I minimum	At least 100 (AMA PRA Category 1, AAFP, or qualifying AOA credit)
Certification points	60 (Self-Assessment + Performance Improvement)
Cognitive assessment	25 quarterly questions or one-day exam in year 4
Tracking	MyABFM Portfolio

AAFP membership

AAFP ties your membership to a reelection cycle of three calendar years. Active members must report 150 CME credits. AAFP labels certain activities "Prescribed," covering CME it produces or approves, including teaching. At least 75 of the 150 must come from that category. The rest can be Elective, a bucket that accepts AMA PRA Category 1 credit, AOA credit, and professional enrichment such as attending medical staff meetings.

No extensions exist in the bylaws. Miss the cycle and AAFP cancels your membership. A reinstatement path exists through the AAFP Member Resource Center.

New members get a four-year first cycle. That first cycle is the enrollment year plus the next three full calendar years.

AAFP also produces CME itself. Activities earning AAFP Prescribed or Elective credit can count toward ABFM Division I at the same time. One course, two obligations.

How Category 1 accreditation works

Only accredited providers may certify activities for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit. A provider qualifies through the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) or a state medical society the ACCME recognizes. Category 1 belongs to the AMA Physician's Recognition Award (PRA), which physicians may apply for. Category 2 is self-claimed. No organization may certify it.

The AAFP/AMA equivalency agreement connects the two systems. The AMA accepts AAFP Prescribed credit as equivalent to Category 1 for the PRA. AAFP accepts Category 1 as equivalent to Elective credit. Neither body relabels the other's credit; each side reports under its own name.

Where MD Progress fits

MD Progress carries no AMA PRA Category 1 accreditation. Time spent reading, working through cases, or reviewing guidelines counts as unaccredited, self-directed learning. It qualifies for AMA PRA Category 2 Credit.

For ABFM diplomates, that kind of informal learning, journal reading and independent study, is what Division II covers. It counts toward the 200-credit cycle total, not the Division I floor. For state licensure, whether your board accepts self-claimed credit depends on the state. Your own board's renewal page has the answer.

Your three obligations

If you hold a state license, you owe the state. If you are an AAFP member, AAFP adds a 150-credit three-year cycle on top. If you hold ABFM certification, its five-year cycle runs separately. Activities earning AMA PRA Category 1 credit do the most work: they count toward ABFM Division I and toward state requirements that accept accredited hours. Those are worth prioritizing.