MD/DO · Requirements & free courses
Massachusetts requires 50 hours every 2 years for MD/DO renewal, including 8 topic-specific mandates. Every one of them has a free option below unless we say otherwise.
Each requirement below is paired with activities we opened and verified ourselves.
2 hours, one-time.
Mass General Brigham
Fulfills the Massachusetts end-of-life requirement and carries risk management credit at the same time.
More options on the end-of-life care page.
3 hours if you prescribe controlled substances.
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.
10 hours.
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.
Mass General Brigham
Fulfills the Massachusetts end-of-life requirement and carries risk management credit at the same time.
AHRQ Patient Safety Network (CME by UC Davis Health)
1 credit per case, new cases published roughly monthly plus a large back catalog. The single best free source for Pennsylvania's 12 patient safety hours and Massachusetts risk management credit. Carries ABIM MOC.
Heads up: Spotlight Cases older than three years stay readable but their quizzes are disabled, so only cases from roughly the last three years actually yield credit. Also does NOT satisfy Florida's Prevention of Medical Errors requirement, which has board-prescribed content.
Our finding: Florida's two-hour Prevention of Medical Errors course has board-prescribed content — the five most-misdiagnosed conditions, root cause analysis, and more. No generic patient safety course satisfies it, and every Florida-approved provider we checked charges. The cheapest verified option was $9.95. AHRQ PSNet is an excellent free substitute for Pennsylvania and Massachusetts credit, but not for Florida.
More options on the patient safety page.
3 hours.
Any accredited activity in this subject counts. Browse our verified free list or check your specialty society.
As required by state law.
Any accredited activity in this subject counts. Browse our verified free list or check your specialty society.
One-time.
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.
2 hours, one-time (BORIM Policy 2021-04). The Board publishes an authoritative list of accepted courses, split into free and paid.
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.
2 credits, one-time.
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.