Physician assistants have it easier than most professions in one respect: there's a national standard that does a lot of the work. NCCPA certification requires 100 CME hours every two years, and many states simply accept that as the requirement. But "many" isn't "all," and the states that add their own mandated courses on top are exactly where PAs get caught.
The trick is knowing whether your state defers to NCCPA entirely or layers state-specific content on. Two states make the contrast clear.
The NCCPA baseline
NCCPA certification maintenance requires 100 CME hours per two-year cycle, at least 50 of which must be Category 1 — the accredited, structured kind. This is the foundation most PAs already meet through their certification, and the distinction between Category 1 and Category 2 is worth understanding; we cover it in what counts as Category 1 and CME categories decoded. If you're keeping your NCCPA certification current, you're doing 100 hours regardless of state.
Colorado: defers entirely to NCCPA
Colorado is the clean-deferral model. The state does not impose a state-specific CME hour requirement for physician assistants — PAs maintain competency through NCCPA certification, which means the 100-hour standard is the requirement. There's no separate Colorado mandated-course list to chase. For a PA, that's about as simple as it gets. Colorado's broader regulatory environment is shifting for other professions — physicians there face new CME starting in 2027 — but PAs stay anchored to NCCPA.
Florida: NCCPA plus a stack of state courses
Florida is the layered model. The Board of Medicine requires PAs to complete 100 total CME hours per biennium — 50 Category 1, 50 Category 2 — which tracks NCCPA. But Florida adds its own mandated courses on top: a 2-hour medical-errors course each renewal, a one-time 2-hour human-trafficking course, a 2-hour controlled-substance course for DEA-registered PAs, and a first-renewal HIV/AIDS hour. So a Florida PA who only does NCCPA's 100 hours is still non-compliant — they're missing the state mandates. The human-trafficking piece connects to human-trafficking CE requirements, and the controlled-substance piece to opioid CME by state.
The mental model
Think of it in two layers. Layer one is NCCPA — 100 hours, national, the same everywhere. Layer two is your state's add-ons, which range from nothing (Colorado) to a meaningful stack (Florida). Your job is to identify layer two for each state you're licensed in. The PA situation mirrors the physician overlap between specialty boards and states, covered in specialty board CME vs state CME — national maintenance and state rules overlap but don't always align.
The DEA layer too
Prescribing PAs add a third consideration: the federal MATE Act 8-hour training, which is separate from both NCCPA hours and state courses. So a Florida PA who prescribes is looking at NCCPA's 100 hours, Florida's mandated courses, and the federal MATE training — three layers, three authorities. Mapping them together prevents both double-counting and gaps.
How to handle it
Start with NCCPA — you're doing those 100 hours anyway. Then ask, for each state license, what's layered on top. Colorado: nothing extra. Florida: medical errors, human trafficking, controlled substances, HIV/AIDS. If you hold licenses in multiple states, the NCCPA hours can count toward all of them, but each state's add-ons are separate — the principle is in a plan for each license.
For official wording, the Florida Board of Medicine PA renewal page lays out the state add-ons on top of NCCPA. Find your specifics on physician assistant CE by state or Colorado PA requirements.
White Glove CME separates your NCCPA baseline from your state add-ons and the federal MATE training, so nothing overlaps or goes missing — for $99 per license renewal. We plan; we don't grant credit or access NCCPA or board accounts. Tell us your states and we'll map both layers.
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