Podiatrists' CME is ALL Online, for the Time Being
The States Have Responded

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27 states allow DPMs to earn all their CME online if they so choose. Prior to COVID, 23 states imposed some limit on how much of their CME requirement could be earned online by podiatrists.  Almost all of that has now changed due to public gathering restrictions.  The entire events industry shut down in March and aside from certain select gatherings, is still shut down and is expected to remain so until widespread immunity is obtained by mass vaccination well into 2021.  We at PRESENT hope to be able to again run our 6 live conferences, Desert Foot, Superbones Superwounds East and West, the East and Midwest Residency Education Summits, and PRESENT Treasure Hunt beginning next Summer.  But for now, until we can all attend conferences again, ALL CME is online.

Until we can all meet again, we all need to still earn our CME, both to continue to improve our knowledge and skills, but also to fulfil the CME requirement of the state where we practice.  The good news is that most of the 23 states that formerly limited the earning of CME online have responded to the realities of CME under COVID rules and have now waived those limitations. PRESENT has just completed a comprehensive survey of those 23 states and the results are PRESENTed in this blog.

COVID Policy Changes for the 23 States that Limit Online CME

State	Rule Changes	Limitation	Exp Date
AZ	ALL CME can be earned online as long as COVID impact persists	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
CT	Still No CME Requirement	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
DC	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
FL	Still only 8 Credits or 20% allowed online currently. FPMA appealing to State Board to allow up tp 20 credits or 50% of the requirement to be earned online in this 2 year cycle.	Regular rules in effect	3/31/22
GA	All CME Allowed Online	No info online/State Board did not respond	120 days after end of Public Health State of Emergency
IA	Still 25%	No info online/State Board did not respond	Extension to June 30, 2021
ID	No Change	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
IL	All CME Allowed Online	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
KY	All CME Allowed Online	CME programming must be live online seminars	December 31, 2021
MD	All CME Allowed Online	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
MN	All CME Allowed Online	Must be Live Streaming	December 31, 2020
MO	Considering but not committed to change	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
MT	Still No CME Requirement	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
NC	Extended deadline 1 year, to 6/30/21 from 6/30/20	No info online/State Board did not respond	June 30, 2021
NE	Live interactice online CME is now considered equivalent to live in person, so ALL can be earned in this manner	Online CME programming must be live interactive CME	No info online/State Board did not respond
NH	Extended deadline form 6/30/2020 to 12/31/2020, ALL can be earned online	No info online/State Board did not respond	December 31, 2020
NY	ALL CME can be earned online as long as COVID impact persists	During COVID	No info online/State Board did not respond
OK	ALL CME can be earned online as long as COVID impact persists	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
PA	ALL CME can be earned online as long as COVID impact persists	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
PR	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond	No info online/State Board did not respond
TN	All CME Allowed Online	No info online/State Board did not respond	December 31, 2020
TX	All may be earned live online, 60% must be live online, 40 may be on-demand	60% must be "Live Online CME". Other 40% can be "On-Demand"	No info online/State Board did not respond
WA	All CME Allowed Online	No info online/State Board did not respond	December 30, 2020

CLICK HERE for full information on your state's current CME requirements

Pre-COVID Policy for the 23 States that Limit Online CME

State	Cycle	Credits	Credits/yr	Former Online CME Limit	Online %	Renewal Date
AZ	1	25	25	10	40%	6/30/20
CT	0	0	0	0	0%	N/A
DC	2	50	25	25	50%	3/31/22
FL	2	40	20	8	13%	3/31/20
GA	2	50	25	10	13%	8/31/21
IA	2	40	20	10	25%	6/30/20
ID	1	12	12	6	50%	N/A
IL	2	100	50	50	50%	1/31/21
KY	1	20	20	5	25%	6/30/20
MD	2	50	25	25	50%	12/1/21
MN	2	40	20	8	13%	6/30/21
MO	2				0%	2/28/22
MT	3	75	25	0	0%	N/A
NC	1	25	25	5	13%	6/30/20
NE	2	48	24	16	33%	4/1/22
NH	2	40	20	10	25%	6/30/20
NY	3	50	16.8	25	50%	N/A
OK	2	13%	30	10	16%	6/30/20
PA	2	50	25	10	13%	12/31/20
PR	3	45	15		0%	N/A
TN	1	15	15	5	33%	6/30/20
TX	2	50	25	20	40%	11/1/20
WA	2	100	50	20	13%	N/A

CLICK HERE for full information on your state's current CME requirements

State CME Revisions Under COVID

New York and Florida

First, to the large populous states of New York and Florida, which each handle their CME requirements quite differently. New York issued a blanket COVID waiver, considerately and responsibly allowing their DPMs to earn ALL their CME online until COVID no longer renders large public gatherings a public health threat. The huge New York Clinical Conference will be run live streaming online. Good for you, New York! Florida is running their annual SAM meeting as a hybrid event, allowing up to 400 attendees to attend live and in-person, and live streaming the event to others. The FPMA announced on Oct 9th that they have petitioned the Florida Board of Podiatry to allow half of CME credit to be earned online, up from their former 20%. The Florida Board of Podiatric Medicine sets CME policy for podiatrists in the State of Florida. The FPMA does not. The new biennium period began this past March 31, so Florida podiatrists currently need to earn 80% of their CME requirement or 32 CECHs live in-person before March 31, 2022, unless the Florida Board of Podiatric Medicine grants the FPMA request to allow them to earn up to 20 credits online. In that case, Florida podiatrists will need to earn 20 credits at live in-person events before March 31, 2022. CME of exactly one hour in length, and in increments of 1 hour, does qualify for CME by rules set forth by the Florida Board of Podiatric Medicine. Florida is the only state in the country to limit online CME to programming in one (1) hour increments, effectively excluding their members from benefiting from most online CME programming for podiatrists. The registration fees for all FPMA conferences are included in the annual dues of FPMA members, they are not paid for in advance.

Connecticut and Montana

Two states currently have NO CME REQUIREMENT, Connecticut, and Montana.

States that have Pivoted to Now Allow ALL CME to be Earned Online

Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Washington have issued policy changes due to COVID and now allow ALL CME to be earned online. Texas requires that 60% be in the form of live online CME, limiting recorded on-demand CME to 40% of the required 50 credits every 2-year cycle. Nebraska issued a quite progressive and innovative statement that they consider live interactive online CME programming to be equivalent to live in person programming. Kudos to them! The states of Kentucky, Minnesota, and Nebraska are allowing only live online streaming CME to earn most of their requirement, still maintaining their former limitation of 25%, 20% and 33% respectively for online on-demand CME.  

So, in conclusion, as we thought would happen, most of the 23 states that formerly restricted how much of DPM’s CME requirement could be earned online have waived their limitations on earning CME online. They had to. CME is an important quality assurance mechanism for the state boards of podiatry and in the absence of live in person CME conferences, they have to allow online CME. Until live conferences can take place safely again, the choice for DPMs is clear: Scheduled Live Streamed Conferences or On-Demand Recorded Lectures.  

CLICK HERE for full information on your state's current CME requirements