MD · Requirements & free courses
Washington requires 200 hours every 4 years for MD renewal, including 3 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.
6 hours, one-time, from the Department of Health model list.
Pri-Med Institute
Also carries 1.00 ABIM MOC point. A plausible fit for Nevada, Utah, Connecticut and Oregon when combined with other activities.
Heads up: Does NOT by itself satisfy Washington's 6-hour Department of Health model-list requirement. Expires 9/25/2026 — check before starting.
Our finding: This is the thinnest free market of any mandated topic, and most of what the internet still recommends is dead. We verified and rejected six widely-cited free courses that have expired or been retired, including a six-hour Washington DOH model-list course that expired in 2021 but is still linked everywhere. Washington's six-hour requirement in particular has no free path we could verify.
More options on the suicide prevention page.
2 hours 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, one-time.
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.
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.