New York Physician & PA CE Package: Infection Control, Child Abuse & Pain Management

How many CE hours do New York physicians need?

New York physicians have no general numeric CME-hour requirement for license renewal. Instead, the New York State Education Department requires specific Department-approved trainings, listed below ( NYSED — Training and Continuing Education ; NYSED — Physicians Mandated Training ).

Renewal falls every two years, due by the last day of the month before the physician's birth month ( NYSED — Registration Renewal ). MDs and DOs are both licensed as "physicians" under Education Law Article 131, with no separate osteopathic board — the statute requires only that the State Board for Medicine include at least two doctors of osteopathy among its members ( NYSED — Article 131 ).

Which CE topics are required for New York physicians?

Every physician must complete a one-time 2-hour training on identifying and reporting child abuse, with a Certification of Completion submitted to the State Education Department, and infection control and barrier precautions training at initial licensure and every four years thereafter ( NYSED — Child Abuse Training ; NYSED — Infection Control Training ).

Two supplemental updates apply on top of the base child abuse training for physicians who already completed it: anyone trained between November 1, 2022 and August 31, 2025 must complete an additional module on identifying abuse and maltreatment in children with intellectual or developmental disabilities by November 17, 2026, and anyone trained before April 1, 2025 was separately required to complete an addendum covering implicit bias, adverse childhood experiences, and recognizing signs of abuse during virtual interactions by that date. Both are one-time supplemental updates tied to when the original training was completed, not recurring additions to the base two-hour requirement ( NYSED — Child Abuse Training ).

A physician who holds a DEA registration and prescribes controlled substances (including residents prescribing under a facility DEA number) must complete 3 hours of training on pain management, palliative care, and addiction, initially by July 1, 2017 and every three years thereafter, attested online to the Department of Health ( NYSED — Mandatory Prescriber Education ; Public Health Law § 3309-a(3) ).

Physicians holding a DEA registration must also complete a one-time 8-hour DEA MATE Training on Opioid or Substance Use Disorder, per the federal MATE Act — not a New York State mandate, and due at the physician's next DEA registration submission on or after June 27, 2023, whichever comes first ( DEA Diversion Control Division — MATE Act Training FAQ ).

Do newly licensed New York physicians need CE for their first renewal?

No. New York's mandated trainings are completed at or before initial licensure and on their own recurring schedules; there is no additional general CE requirement owed at a physician's first renewal ( NYSED — Physicians Mandated Training ).

Does the New York State Education Department audit CE records?

Yes. Certificates of completion for the child abuse and infection control trainings must be submitted to the Department at reregistration or initial application (or retained for hospital credentialing, for hospital-affiliated physicians), and controlled-substances training completion is affirmatively attested online to the Department of Health ( NYSED — Child Abuse Training ; NYSED — Infection Control Training ).

Sources

Last verified: September 23, 2026

• NYSED — Office of the Professions, Physicians

• NYSED — Article 131

• NYSED — Registration Renewal

• NYSED — Physicians Mandated Training

• NYSED — Training and Continuing Education

• NYSED — Child Abuse Training

• NYSED — Infection Control Training

• NYSED — Mandatory Prescriber Education

• Public Health Law § 3309-a(3) — NYSDOH Mandatory Prescriber Education

• DEA Diversion Control Division — MATE Act Training FAQ