The Board is committed to ensuring the ongoing competence of its licensees for the protection, safety and wellbeing of the public. All licensees must engage in a culture of continuous quality improvement and lifelong learning.
To renew a license, OMB licensees must satisfy the continuing education requirements in three areas:
- General Education (see chart below)
- Pain Management (1 hour every two years)
- Cultural Competency (1 hour every year)
General Continuing Education
Requirements by Licensee Type
OMB licensees will disclose their participation in maintenance of board certification or continuing medical education as outlined in
OAR 847-008-0070.
Physician (Medical, Osteopathic, and Podiatric):
|
|
- Status: Active, Administrative Medicine Active, Locum Tenens, Telemedicine Active, Telemonitoring Active, Teleradiology Active (MD/DO only)
| 30 hours/year
|
| 15 hours/year
|
Physician Associate
|
|
- Status: Active, Locum Tenens, or Telemedicine Active
| 30 hours/year
|
| 15 hours/year
|
Acupuncture
| |
- Status: Active or Locum Tenens
| 15 hours/year
|
| 8 hours/year
|
Maintenance of Board Certification
Licensees may fulfill CME requirements through ongoing specialty board recertification (known as Maintenance of Certification). OMB staff will verify participation in recertification directly with the certifying specialty boards. Refer to OAR 847-008-0070 for acceptable specialty boards.
Lifetime certification alone does not fulfill the Board's requirements of ongoing specialty board maintenance of certification. These licensees must complete the CME hours described in the rule by the time of renewal.
Exempt: Licensees in residency training and Volunteer Camp licensees
Pain Management Continuing EducationRequirement: 1 hour every two yearsAs of January 1, 2022, the Oregon Legislature adopted ORS 413.590 requiring pain management continuing education on an ongoing basis. Recognizing that all providers play a role in a patient's pain management care and that up-to-date knowledge is one of many tools,
OAR 847-008-0075 requires all actively licensed Board licensees to complete the Oregon Pain Management Commission's (OPMC) continuing education course
Changing the Conversation About Pain, at initial licensure and every two years. OPMC provides the free, one-hour
education program online course updated every two years.
Exemptions: Lapsed license, Teleradiology license, and Telemonitoring license
Cultural Competency Continuing Education
Requirement: 1 hour every year
As of July 1 2021, ORS 676.850 and
OAR 847-008-0077 requires all board licensees to complete one hour of Cultural Competency Continuing Education every year. The law was written broadly for licensees to determine what would be relevant to their practice. The education content must teach attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enable a health care professional to care effectively for patients from diverse cultures, groups, and communities.
Number of hours: Licensees must complete an average of at least one hour of cultural competency education per year during an audit period. An audit period is two renewal cycles, for example every four years for most licensees. Required hours will be based on the number of years licensed during the audit period; any portion of a year licensed will require one hour of cultural competency education. For example, a licensee who has been licensed for 3.5 years during the audit period will be required to obtain four hours of cultural competency education. Hours may be obtained at any time during the audit period. For example, either one four-hour experience, or four one-hour courses taken annually, would satisfy the requirement.
Fall 2023: For the first audit period, licensees will be required to report 2 hours of cultural competency education. Licensees may report hours for courses or experiences completed during the calendar year starting January 1, 2021. Educational opportunities: The law was written broadly to allow a wide array of courses or experiences. The content must teach attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enable a health care professional to care effectively for patients from diverse cultures, groups, and communities. Courses or opportunities may include:
- Courses delivered in-person or electronically/online (does not have to be accredit CME)
- Accredited continuing medical education (CME), Category 1 or 2
- Experiential or service learning
- Cultural or linguistic immersion
- Volunteering in a rural clinic (OMB licensees are not able to apply compensated time for practicing in a rural clinic)
- Employer's cultural competency training
- Training on implicit bias in health care
- Events with members of an underserved community to discuss health care access issues
- Courses on the OHA Cultural Competence Continuing Education (CCCE) webpage.
Tracking completion: Licensees may track educational hours on an
OMB record keeping form. During license renewal (annually or biennially depending on the license), licensees will attest to completing the required hours by checking a box and reporting the number of hours obtained. The OMB will audit for compliance every other renewal cycle with the first audit being conducted during the Fall 2023 renewal cycle. Audited licensees will be asked to also produce documentation of their cultural competency educational experiences. Documentation may be a course certificate, the OMB record keeping form, or other documentation.
Exemptions: Licensees in residency training and Volunteer Camp licensees
Although not required, the Oregon Medical Board encourages continuing education in Suicide Risk Assessment, Treatment, and Management and Alzheimer's Disease. If you take continuing education in Suicide Risk Assessment, Treatment, and Management, please make note of these hours when you renew your license (there is a spot on the renewal form).
Continuing Education Updates
Partnership with ACCME
The Oregon Medical Board has partnered with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and State Medical Board Collaboration. This initiative intends to reduce burdens and streamline CME reporting for Oregon licensees through the new and improved Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS). Learn more about PARS here. More information about the Board's efforts to improve CME reporting will soon be available on this page.
Relevancy RequirementContinuing education hours must be relevant to your current practice. The following continuing education topics are considered relevant for all licensees, regardless of specialty:
Documentation
Continuing education compliance for the general requirement can be documented through the following:
All documents must include the following:
For the pain management requirement, attest to completing the required course by checking a box on the renewal form. If audited, the OMB will confirm course completion with the Oregon Pain Management Commission.
For cultural competency requirement, attest to completing the required hours by checking a box and reporting the number of hours obtained on the renewal form. The OMB will audit for compliance every other renewal cycle. If audited, the OMB will request licensees produce documentation of their cultural competency educational experiences. Documentation may be a course certificate, the
OMB record keeping form, or other documentation.
Licensees will be randomly audited for CME compliance, including specific pain management and cultural competency requirements outlined above. If selected for an audit, you will be notified by e-mail and physical mail. The audit notification will provide directions on how to submit your materials.
Audited licensees have 60 days from the date on the audit notification to provide documentation of CME obtained during the audited license period.
Failure to Respond to an Audit
Licensees should retain documentation of participation in specialty board recertification or completed CME hours in a safe place so that they can be easily produced if asked for verification of continuing education.