MD/DO · Requirements & free courses
Illinois requires 150 hours every 3 years for MD/DO renewal, including 7 topic-specific mandates. Every one of them has a free option below unless we say otherwise.
Category 1 floor: At least 60 of the 150 hours must be formal Category 1; up to 90 may be Category 2.
Dr. Jones holds an active Illinois medical license. These are requirements he tracks for his own renewal, not just ones he has read about.
Each requirement below is paired with activities we opened and verified ourselves.
1 hour per cycle.
Pri-Med Institute
AMA Journal of Ethics (AMA Ed Hub)
Roughly 400–500 activities, 0.5–1.0 credit each, fully open access in perpetuity. The best free ethics library anywhere — effectively unlimited ethics credit for Texas, Michigan, Nevada and New Jersey.
Heads up: AMA's separate curated 'ethics CME track' and its completion certificate ARE member-only, and JAMA Network journal CME is paywalled at ~$45/article. The Journal of Ethics activities themselves are free to everyone.
Federation of State Medical Boards
From the FSMB itself. Only 0.5 credit, so combine it.
More options on the ethics & boundaries page.
1 hour per cycle.
HHS Office of Minority Health — Think Cultural Health (accredited by Ciné-Med, Inc.)
Federally funded, 9 credits, no cost. The most substantial free cultural competency program available.
Heads up: Site banner says the course is under review for updates, though it remains available for credit. Confirm your board accepts it — Michigan in particular requires pre/post-assessment that this does not provide.
Boston University / PICCK at Boston Medical Center
Massachusetts BORIM states that completing the full course lets you attribute 2.0 credits to the implicit bias requirement — finishing it in one sitting — plus 2.5 general credits.
HHS Office of Minority Health — Think Cultural Health
Directly relevant to Illinois' new maternal health implicit bias hour and New Jersey's perinatal bias requirement.
Mass General Brigham
The most efficient option for Massachusetts: 2 credits that satisfy the one-time implicit bias requirement AND double-count toward the 10-credit risk management requirement.
More options on the implicit bias & equity page.
1 hour every 6 years, tied to renewal of your Controlled Substances Registration. Public Act 103-0531 reduced this from 3 hours to 1, effective January 1, 2025.
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.
PCSS / American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
SAMHSA grant-funded. Completing all 8 courses earns a digital badge that PCSS states fulfills the DEA 8-hour requirement. The landing page designates 9.25 credits generally; AMA PRA Category 1 is among the credit types offered.
More options on the opioids & pain page.
1 hour every 6 years.
HHS Office of Minority Health — Think Cultural Health (accredited by Ciné-Med, Inc.)
Federally funded, 9 credits, no cost. The most substantial free cultural competency program available.
Heads up: Site banner says the course is under review for updates, though it remains available for credit. Confirm your board accepts it — Michigan in particular requires pre/post-assessment that this does not provide.
Boston University / PICCK at Boston Medical Center
Massachusetts BORIM states that completing the full course lets you attribute 2.0 credits to the implicit bias requirement — finishing it in one sitting — plus 2.5 general credits.
HHS Office of Minority Health — Think Cultural Health
Directly relevant to Illinois' new maternal health implicit bias hour and New Jersey's perinatal bias requirement.
Mass General Brigham
The most efficient option for Massachusetts: 2 credits that satisfy the one-time implicit bias requirement AND double-count toward the 10-credit risk management requirement.
More options on the implicit bias & equity page.
1 hour before your first CE-requiring renewal, then once every 6 years, for physicians who treat adults aged 26+. Note: IDFPR states every 6 years, while the FSMB overview and some CME offices describe it as once per renewal cycle. We follow the board.
Mass General Brigham
Satisfies the Massachusetts one-time dementia requirement; content also maps to Illinois, Rhode Island and Oregon.
American College of Preventive Medicine with CDC
Two courses, 1.5 credits each. CDC states learners can create a free account and take them at no cost.
Heads up: The landing pages label credit as 'CME' rather than spelling out 'AMA PRA Category 1' — confirm the designation inside the activity if your board requires exact wording.
UCSF — Dementia Care Aware
Free CME for all courses. Built for California's Medi-Cal benefit but open to clinicians in any state.
More options on the dementia page.
1 hour every 3 years for providers of prenatal and postnatal maternal health services (HB 2517), effective July 1, 2026. Sources conflict on whether this replaces or adds to the general implicit bias hour — confirm with IDFPR.
HHS Office of Minority Health — Think Cultural Health (accredited by Ciné-Med, Inc.)
Federally funded, 9 credits, no cost. The most substantial free cultural competency program available.
Heads up: Site banner says the course is under review for updates, though it remains available for credit. Confirm your board accepts it — Michigan in particular requires pre/post-assessment that this does not provide.
Boston University / PICCK at Boston Medical Center
Massachusetts BORIM states that completing the full course lets you attribute 2.0 credits to the implicit bias requirement — finishing it in one sitting — plus 2.5 general credits.
HHS Office of Minority Health — Think Cultural Health
Directly relevant to Illinois' new maternal health implicit bias hour and New Jersey's perinatal bias requirement.
Mass General Brigham
The most efficient option for Massachusetts: 2 credits that satisfy the one-time implicit bias requirement AND double-count toward the 10-credit risk management requirement.
More options on the implicit bias & equity page.
Required every 6 years for medical personnel. Physicians who do not work with children in a professional capacity need not repeat it.
Any accredited activity in this subject counts. Browse our verified free list or check your specialty society.
A one-time 8 hours on substance use disorders, required of every DEA-registered practitioner regardless of state, due at your next registration or renewal. The attestation does not recur — you will not be asked again at future DEA renewals.
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.
You may already be covered. The requirement is satisfied without new coursework if you are board certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry, graduated within the past five years from a qualifying program whose curriculum included the required content, or previously completed DATA-2000 waiver training.
More at MATE Act options.
Boards revise requirements mid-cycle and interpret them differently. Confirm against your own board’s current rules — find yours here — before counting an activity toward renewal.