The domestic-violence requirement that gets people isn't the recurring one — it's the one that comes due every six years. A six-year clock is long enough that you can renew your license twice without it appearing, then get caught off guard on the third renewal. Florida built its physician and dentist rules exactly this way, and it's a quiet failure point at audit time.
Domestic-violence CE has been around for decades, predating most of the newer topic mandates, but its irregular timing keeps it easy to overlook. Here's how two states handle it.
Florida: every six years, across professions
Florida applies domestic-violence CE on a six-year cadence to several license types. Physicians owe 2 hours on domestic violence every third biennial renewal — once every six years. Dentists owe the same: a 2-hour course once every third biennial renewal. Florida nurse practitioners owe a 2-hour domestic-violence course every third renewal cycle, and notably, that course does not count toward their 24-hour CE total — it's extra. The physician details are in the broader Florida picture for nurses, and the dental version in the Florida dentist guide, which stacks domestic violence alongside medical errors and controlled substances.
Kentucky: one-time, front-loaded for newer clinicians
Kentucky uses a different model. Primary-care physicians licensed after July 1, 1996 must complete a 3-hour domestic-violence training within three years of initial licensure — a one-time requirement keyed to when you were licensed. Kentucky nurses face a one-time 3-hour domestic-violence course too, generally aimed at those who trained outside Kentucky or before a certain date. So Kentucky is one-time and tied to your licensure history, while Florida is recurring every six years. Same topic, opposite structures.
Why the six-year version is dangerous
A requirement that surfaces once every six years doesn't build a habit. You handle it, then forget it exists for two full renewal cycles, and when it returns you may not remember it's due. Worse, if Florida's domestic-violence course doesn't count toward your hour total (as with NPs), it's pure extra work that's easy to skip when you're focused on hitting your main number. The recurring-versus-one-time distinction is exactly what one-time vs recurring mandates exists to clarify, and off-cycle timing is precisely what makes requirements like this cost clinicians at renewal.
The protective-population cluster
Domestic violence rarely travels alone. The states that mandate it usually mandate adjacent topics: human trafficking, child-abuse reporting, and sometimes sexual-violence training. Florida bundles trafficking, domestic violence, and medical errors. Massachusetts social workers owe 2 hours of domestic and sexual violence training each cycle, covered in the Massachusetts LICSW guide. If your board mandates one protective-population topic, scan for the rest.
Documentation outlives the course
Because Florida's version is every six years and Kentucky's is one-time, the certificate has to survive a long time before anyone asks for it. A 2-hour course completed in year one might not be questioned until an audit five years later. The post on records to keep and for how long matters more for these slow-cycle requirements than for your annual hours.
Multistate clinicians
A Florida six-year course won't satisfy a Kentucky one-time requirement, and neither transfers to a state with no domestic-violence mandate. Handle each license separately — see a plan for each license.
For official wording, the Florida Board of Medicine renewal page describes the every-six-years domestic-violence requirement. Find your specifics on physician CME by state or dentist CE by state.
White Glove CME puts off-cycle requirements like Florida's six-year domestic-violence course on your radar before they're overdue — for $99 per license renewal. We plan; we don't grant credit. Tell us your state and license and we'll track the slow ones for you.
Need help figuring out your CME?
Stop guessing what CME you need. Tell us your license type, state, and renewal date, and we'll map exactly which continuing-education hours and mandated topics you need — and by when. Flat $99 per plan.