MD/DO · Requirements & free courses
Texas requires 48 hours every 2 years for MD/DO renewal, including 6 topic-specific mandates. Every one of them has a free option below unless we say otherwise.
Category 1 floor: At least 24 of the 48 hours must be formal AMA PRA Category 1 or AOA Category 1-A.
Dr. Jones holds an active Texas 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.
2 hours, which must include risk management, domestic and child abuse, and human trafficking.
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 of formal CME in your first renewal period after licensure, then at least 1 hour every third renewal period (every 6 years). Texas HB 2059 requires a course from the HHSC-approved list specifically — a generic human trafficking CME will not satisfy it.
The cleanest genuinely free way to satisfy the Texas HB 2059 mandate. Approved by Texas HHSC.
Heads up: Carries no AMA PRA Category 1 or AOA designation — it satisfies the state training mandate, not a Category 1 CME requirement.
More options on the human trafficking page.
2 hours in each of your first two renewals after licensure, then every 8 years.
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 annually for pain clinic personnel.
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.
2 hours from a SASTF-approved course, for emergency department and urgent care physicians. Applies to renewals on or after September 1, 2026.
Any accredited activity in this subject counts. Browse our verified free list or check your specialty society.
A one-time course required for obstetric-related specialties.
Any accredited activity in this subject counts. Browse our verified free list or check your specialty society.
What it costs, how long it takes, and what catches people out. Aimed at physicians taking assignments here rather than those already established.
Texas is an IMLC state of principal license and has accepted compact applications since March 1, 2022. TMB processes them in about 15 business days.
$867 application (jurisprudence exam included) + $28 surcharges, then a prorated initial registration of $281.48 or $467.48. Fingerprinting is extra and billed by the vendor.
Every 2 years. Paying by card adds a state surcharge of about $11; electronic check avoids it. Renewing on paper when online is available costs $50 more.
A statutory average TMB must hit across all applications — not a deadline for yours, and the clock only starts once your file clears pre-licensure screening. Real elapsed time is longer and is not published.
Texas eliminated its DPS controlled substance registration on September 1, 2016 under SB 195. Your federal DEA registration is sufficient.
Constitutionally prohibited since November 2019, and the prohibition reaches your share of partnership and unincorporated business income. A PLLC or single-member LLC still owes an annual franchise-tax information filing, though no tax below $2.65M revenue.
Texas issues the license inactive. Before you can work you must pass the Texas Medical Jurisprudence Exam, submit proof of citizenship or lawful presence, and pay the prorated initial registration — all within 90 days of issuance. TMB does not email you when your lawful-presence documents clear; you have to keep checking the portal. Miss 90 days and there is a $75 penalty, $150 at 120 days, and the license is cancelled at 12 months. This applies to compact licenses too. If you have scheduled an assignment for the week after your license arrives, you are not going to be able to work it.
Sources: Texas Medical Board (fees effective 9/1/2025), Texas Occupations Code ch. 155–156, Health & Safety Code §481, SB 195 (2015), HB 3284 (2019), IMLCC member list (March 2026). Verified August 22, 2026.
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.