Most roundups organize CME changes by state. That is useful if you know where you are licensed, less useful if you want to know what is coming for your profession across the country. So here is the other view: upcoming changes sorted by who you are, not where you are.
Physicians (MD/DO)
The biggest move is Colorado, where physicians will owe general CME for the first time — 30 AMA PRA Category 1 credits every two years, with a substance use disorder component, starting with the 2027 renewal cycle. Details in Colorado physicians will owe CME for the first time in 2027.
Beyond that, the physician landscape is more about understanding existing complexity than bracing for new rules. California's 50-hour cycle with implicit bias and a one-time pain course, Texas at 48 with ethics and opioid pieces, and New York's no-total-but-three-courses model are the ones people misjudge. The physician CME overview ties it together, and prescribers should know the federal DEA MATE 8-hour training sits on top of any state total.
Nurses (RN, LPN/LVN, NP)
Lots of motion here. Oregon phases in a 20-hour RN CE rule on January 1, 2028 — see Oregon's new RN rule. Pennsylvania added a one-time organ-donation course effective May 1, 2026 — see Pennsylvania's organ-donation CE. Idaho shifted nurses toward biennial renewal. And Montana went the other way, dropping mandatory RN CE entirely in late 2023.
For the annual-cadence states that confuse people, see Washington's annual model and Connecticut's first-renewal exemption. State guides worth bookmarking: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and for nurse practitioners, Michigan.
Pharmacists
Rhode Island is mid-transition from annual to a two-year cycle with a 30-month bridge — the cycle change is the one to watch. Elsewhere, the structural quirks matter more than pending changes: New York's 45-hour triennial with 23 live hours, Florida's 30-hour biennial, and the recurring trap of the live-CE portion pharmacists forget.
Psychologists
Wyoming raises the requirement from 30 to 40 hours, with new ethics and risk-assessment mandates, starting with the 2028 cycle — see Wyoming's bigger CE rules. For the long-cycle states, Washington's 60-hour triennial and New York's three-year planning challenge are the ones to plan around. The psychologist CE overview gives the national picture.
Behavioral health more broadly
Texas has its cultural-diversity rule under review for social workers, counselors, and therapists. Ethics is the constant across all of them — see the near-universal ethics mandate.
How to use this
Find your profession, note any dated change, and confirm whether it lands inside your specific renewal window. For the state-organized version, see every state changing its rules between 2026 and 2028. And because changes rarely affect carryover or transfer cleanly, keep the deadline-versus-expiration explainer handy.
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