Independent · No paywall · No login
Every “free CME” list on the internet is full of courses that expired in 2022, require a $250 membership, or charge $10 for the certificate at the end. We checked all of them by hand. Here is what actually works today.
The MATE Act requires a one-time eight hours on substance use disorders from every DEA-registered practitioner in the country, regardless of state. It is free to satisfy, and one single program covers the whole thing.
PCSS / American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
Bundle worth up to 15 credits; 8 are needed for the DEA attestation.
PCSS / Opioid Response Network
14 stand-alone modules, roughly 0.75–1.25 credits each. Take only what you need.
NEJM Group / Massachusetts Medical Society
Explicitly satisfies the full one-time 8-hour DEA requirement in a single program. No NEJM or MMS membership needed. Carries ABIM, ABA and ABS MOC.
State boards mandate specific subjects, and those are exactly the ones that are hardest to find for free at 11pm the night before your renewal deadline.
Every DEA-registered practitioner in the country needs this one-time 8 hours on substance use disorders. It is federal, not state — and it is completely free to satisfy.
14 free options verifiedThe single most commonly mandated CME topic in the United States. Nearly every state requires some version of it, and the free supply is excellent.
16 free options verifiedRequired in a growing list of states. Watch the fine print — several states impose conditions that generic courses do not meet.
8 free options verifiedRequired in Michigan, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Texas is the strict one: only courses on the state's approved list count.
3 free options verifiedPennsylvania, New York and Iowa each mandate a specific state-approved course. Third-party CME generally does not count.
4 free options verifiedIowa requires this of physicians providing primary care to adults, every three years.
1 free option verifiedRequired in Florida and Kentucky. This is the hardest mandate in the country to satisfy for free — see the note below.
1 free option verifiedEthics, professional boundaries and sexual misconduct prevention. Free supply here is unusually good.
5 free options verifiedRequired in Washington, Utah, Nevada, Connecticut and Oregon. The free market here has largely collapsed — most of what the internet recommends is expired.
1 free option verifiedRequired in Massachusetts, Illinois, Rhode Island and Oregon.
3 free options verifiedA brand-new mandate category. Missouri, Louisiana and West Virginia have all added nutrition requirements recently.
2 free options verifiedPennsylvania wants 12 hours and Massachusetts wants 10 — the largest topic-specific requirements in the country. Florida's version has prescribed content.
3 free options verifiedRequired in Florida, and for Nevada emergency services providers.
1 free option verifiedNew York requires four hours every four years from a state-approved provider. We could not find a free option — see below.
No free option exists — here’s whyThe District of Columbia requires two hours under D.C. Law 21-95.
1 free option verifiedRequired in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Iowa.
1 free option verifiedThese are courses that other “free CME” roundups actively recommend and that will waste your evening. We list them so you don’t click them.
via CDC TRAIN
6 AMA PRA Category 1 credits, and it was on Washington DOH's model list. It still appears on 'free CME' roundups and the TRAIN listing is still live, but it can no longer be completed for credit.
UMA Foundation
Content no longer available; the 2024 edition expired 9/30/2024.
Brown University (SAMHSA-funded)
Lethal Means Counseling expired 9/9/2022, Columbia Protocol 3/8/2024, Safety Planning 3/16/2023, Suicide Prevention in Primary Care 6/23/2022.
American College of Lifestyle Medicine
The 5.5-credit bundle was heavily publicized as free under ACLM's $22M commitment. Its term of approval ended 9/14/2025 and standard pricing is now $175–$220.
Total hours, cycle length, and every topic-specific mandate — drawn from the Federation of State Medical Boards’ board-by-board overview, then matched to free courses.