Rhode Island CME Requirements for Psychiatrists
Reviewed by CME Psychiatry Center editorsLast reviewed against the Rhode Island medical board3 primary sourcesHow we verify
Rhode Island requirements for all physicians
- 40 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 (or AOA Category 1a) CME every 2 years, due by June 1 of even-numbered years (license expires July 1 of even-numbered years)
- All 40 hours must be Category 1; participation in ABMS Maintenance of Certification or AOA Osteopathic Continuous Certification is accepted as equivalent
- No general mandated topics in the physician licensure rule (the earlier 'topics of current concern' language no longer appears in 216-RICR-40-05-1)
- Prescribers of Schedule II opioids must complete a one-time 8 hours of Category 1 CME on opioid prescribing (appropriate prescribing for pain, pharmacology, adverse events, dependence, tolerance, substance use disorder, non-opioid alternatives) before renewal of the controlled substance registration or within 2 years, whichever is longer; DATA 2000 waiver training qualifies (216-RICR-20-20-4 § 4.4(P))
- All practitioners must register with the RI Prescription Drug Monitoring Program as a condition of controlled substance registration and renewal
- Board may grant a single 6-month extension of the CME deadline; keep CME documentation for 3 years
- No first-renewal exemption is stated in the rule
What this means if you are a board-certified psychiatrist in Rhode Island
- Your Rhode Island license and your ABPN certificate run on separate clocks: the state rules above are checked at license renewal; ABPN checks 90 CME and 16 SA-CME at the end of each 3-year block. One activity can count for both.
- Any AMA PRA Category 1 activity satisfies both. Only activities on the ABPN Approved CC Activities List earn Self-Assessment credit; topic-specific state hours (ethics, opioids, etc.) satisfy the state but are ordinary CME for ABPN.
- A state-mandated patient-safety or risk-management course can also satisfy the ABPN patient safety requirement; a hospital QI project may satisfy your PIP.
Last reviewed August 23, 2026. State figures come from the Rhode Island medical board; ABPN figures from the CC Booklet (June 2025) and CC FAQ (April 2026). See the full ABPN CME requirements guide.
ABPN requirements (apply in every state)
Board certification and state licensure are tracked separately. Whatever your state requires below, ABPN Continuing Certification also requires, per 3-year block:
- 90 AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits per 3-year block (average 30 per year) (full CME rules)
- 16 Self-Assessment (SA) CME credits per block, counted within the 90, from the ABPN Approved CC Activities List (what counts as SA)
- One Performance in Practice (PIP) activity per block — a Clinical or Feedback module (how PIP works)
- One Patient Safety activity, one-time, if your first block began in 2017 or later (who it applies to)
- Either the 10-year CC exam or 20 ABCC articles per block (compare the two)
- An unrestricted license and the annual fee ($175 for one certificate) (fees and statuses)
CME from any ACCME-accredited provider counts toward the 90; SA credit only counts from activities on the ABPN list. Read the complete ABPN CME requirements →
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