UPDATED INFORMATION ON THE LICENSE REQUIREMENTS FOR MDs AND DOs
Updated resources are available to clarify the license requirements for medical doctors and osteopathic physicians. Changes include the new addition of three hours of implicit bias and modifications to the pain and symptom management area to include one hour of controlled substance prescribing.
A summary of the changes includes:
- Implicit Bias – A minimum of 3 hours every 3-year relicensing cycle. New licensees need 2 hours within the 5 years immediately preceding.
- Medical Doctors with renewals in January 2022 need no training; renewals in 2023 need 1 hour; renewals in 2024 need 2 hours; renewals in 2025 need 3 hours. Then after, every 3-year renewal cycle will need to report 3 hours. (Any hours after June 2021 can be used for license renewal after 2022.)
- Osteopathic Physicians with renewals in December 2021 need no training; renewals in 2022 need 1 hour; renewals in 2023 need 2 hours; renewals in 2024 need 3 hours. Then after, every 3-year renewal cycle will need to report 3 hours. (Any hours after June 2021 can be used for license renewal after 2022.)
- Training must include strategies to reduce disparities in access to and delivery of health care services and the administration of pre- and post-test implicit bias assessments. Acceptable modalities of training are a teleconference or webinar that permits live synchronous interaction, a live presentation, or an interactive online instruction. Solely recorded or archived content is not allowable, a live component is required.
Training content must include, but is not limited to, 1 or more of the following topics:
- Information on implicit bias, equitable access to health care, serving a diverse population, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and cultural sensitivity.
- Strategies to remedy the negative impact of implicit bias by recognizing and understanding how it impacts perception, judgment, and actions that may result in inequitable decision making, failure to effectively communicate, and result in barriers and disparities in the access to and delivery of health care services.
- The historical basis and present consequences of implicit biases based on an individual’s characteristics.
- Discussion of current research on implicit bias in the access to and delivery of health care services.
Education on Pain and Symptom Management
A minimum of 3 hours of continuing education every 3-year relicensing cycle.
At least 1 of the 3 hours must include controlled substances prescribing.
Live and archived programming for all of the currently required content can be found at www.msms.org/education.
Compliant courses for the implicit bias requirement starting in June 2022 will begin in the first quarter of 2022. Please note the first reporting period for implicit bias will be for those physicians renewing their licenses in 2023.
The new resources for MDs and Dos can be downloaded here: Medical Doctor Licensure Requirements / Osteopathic Physician (DO) Licensure Requirements