Requirements per the Maryland Board of Physicians

1. The Board recognizes and accepts continuing medical education activities which serve to maintain, develop, or increase knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession, and are within the basic medical sciences, the disciplines of clinical medicine, and the provision of health care to the public.
2. Requirements.
   1. A physician applying for renewal or reinstatement shall earn at least 50 credit hours of Category I CME during the 2-year period immediately preceding the licensee’s submission of the renewal or reinstatement application.
   2. The Board shall recognize for Category I CME credit those activities which meet at least one of the following additional requirements for the activity:
      1. Be accredited as Category I by the ACCME;
      2. Be sponsored by an international, national, or state medical society, and meet the standards adopted by the ACCME;
      3. Be an accredited training program and have been attended by the applicant within the 2-year period immediately preceding the date of submission of the application, on the basis of either of the following:
         1. 1 year of full-time service earns 50 CME credit hours; and
         2. Full-time service for a portion of a year earns 1 credit hour per week;
      4. Is a program of self-instruction to prepare for an approved specialty board certification or recertification examination under the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) which occurs solely within the 2 years preceding the application for renewal or reinstatement, on the basis of 5 hours of study equals 1 hour of CME Category I credit up to a maximum of 10 credit hours;
      5. Is a service performed under the auspices of a peer review, focused professional education, or physician rehabilitation committee of the Faculty or a Faculty-approved committee of one of its component societies or a specialty society and involves evaluation of medical care or fitness to provide medical care, and the service is performed without compensation and is credited up to a maximum of 10 credit hours for a 2-year period as follows:
         1. 5 hours of service is equal to 1 hour of CME Category I credit up to a maximum of 10 credit hours for a 2-year period;
         2. If the service consists of the review by the applicant of medical records, the applicant shall be credited with 1 hour per patient record reviewed;
         3. If the service consists of service as chair of a peer review, focused professional education, or physician rehabilitation committee and the service lasted the entire length of a renewal period, the applicant shall be credited with 10 hours of CME Category I credit, but if the service did not cover the entire length of a renewal period, the applicant shall be credited with CME Category I credit proportionately; and
         4. If the service consists of service as an intervenor or assessor or as a monitor of ongoing treatment of a physician participant under the auspices of a physician rehabilitation committee, or as a preceptor under the auspices of a focused professional education committee of the Faculty, and the service lasted the entire length of a renewal period, the applicant shall be credited with 10 hours of CME Category I credit, but if the service did not cover the entire length of a renewal period, the applicant shall be credited with CME Category I credit proportionately;
      6. Is a service performed as a preceptor to medical students in LCME-accredited medical schools and to postgraduate trainees in accredited training programs and involves case presentations and regular and ongoing evaluations, and the service is performed without compensation and is credited with CME Category I credit for 5 preceptor hours, up to a maximum of 10 credit hours for a 2-year period;
      7. Is a service performed by a Board designee and involves medical record review for the Board and the service is performed without compensation, and is credited up to a maximum of 10 credit hours for a 2-year period; or
      8. Is a service performed voluntarily and without compensation and is credited up to a maximum of 5 CME credits in a renewal period as follows:
         1. The applicant shall provide the voluntary, uncompensated services in the practice of medicine; and
         2. The applicant shall demonstrate, by submitting documentation consistent with §D of this regulation, the total number of voluntary, uncompensated hours provided, and the dates, times, and locations of the medical services provided.
   3. Nothing in §B(2)(e) or (f) of this regulation shall limit or impair the ability of a licensee to earn CME Category I credits for participation in any other approved program.
   4. For the purposes of §B(2)(g) and (h) of this regulation, 5 hours of voluntary, uncompensated services are equal to 1 hour of CME Category 1 credit.
3. On the application form for renewal or reinstatement, a physician shall attest to the fact that the physician has completed the continuing medical education requirement.
4. Documentation of CME Credits.
   1. The physician has the affirmative obligation to obtain the requisite documentation of CME attendance and retain this documentation for the succeeding 6 years for possible inspection by the Board.
   2. The required documentation of attendance at a CME program as described in §B(2)(a) and (b) of this regulation shall be a certificate or other documentation of attendance which shall:
      1. Contain at a minimum the:
         1. Program title;
         2. Sponsor’s name;
         3. Physician’s name;
         4. Inclusive date or dates and location of the CME event;
         5. CME category designation and the number of designated or prescribed CME credit hours; and
         6. Documented verification of successful completion by stamp, signature, hospital printout, or other official proof; and
      2. Demonstrate that the CME activity fell within the 2-year period immediately preceding submission of the renewal or reinstatement application by the licensee.
   3. The required documentation of attendance at an accredited residency or fellowship as described in §B(2)(c) of this regulation shall be a certificate or other form of documentation which shall contain at the minimum the:
      1. Program title;
      2. ACGME accredited sponsor’s name and location;
      3. Physician’s name;
      4. Inclusive dates of the residency or fellowship;
      5. Specialty area of residency or fellowship; and
      6. Documented verification of completion by the sponsor.
   4. The required documentation of self-instruction as described in §B(2)(d) of this regulation shall be a specialty certificate issued by an ABMS-approved specialty board within the 2-year period immediately preceding the submission of a renewal or reinstatement application.
   5. The required documentation for service as a preceptor is one of the following:
      1. Documentation from the respective course masters for medical students; or
      2. Documentation from the training director for postgraduate trainees.
   6. The required documentation of service as described in §B(2)(g) of this regulation shall be a certificate or other form of documentation acknowledging the applicant as a specialist reviewer on a medical record review, and stating the number of hours the applicant expended on the completion of the review.
5. The Board shall apply the continuing medical education requirement to all renewal and reinstatement applications after the first renewal, or, in the case of an applicant who has never renewed, after initial licensure.