Washington Physician Assistants CE Requirements, Accreditations & Approvals

Washington Physician Assistants

In support of improving patient care, NetCE is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

As a jointly accredited provider, NetCE is authorized to award Category 1 CME Credit to physician assistants certified through the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).

The Washington State Department of Health: Washington Medical Commission accepts courses from any provider who is ACCME-accredited and awards AMA PRA Category 1 Credit ™.

Continuing Education Requirement

PAs are required 100 hours every two years, 40 of which must be Category 1. There is a one-time requirement of 6 hours in suicide assessment, treatment, and management training at initial licensure. Beginning January 1, 2019, licensees authorized to prescribe opioids have a one-time requirement of 1 hour on the topic of opioid prescribing. All prescribers of long-acting opioids or methadone have a one-time requirement of 4 hours on this topic. Alternatives to continuing education for meeting renewal requirements include:

• maintain NCCPA certification; or
• compliance with continuing competency program through the AAPA or the NCCPA.

Beginning January 1, 2024, Physician Assistants are required at least 2 hours of health equity training every four years, including strategies to reduce implicit bias and assess the provider's ability to apply health equity concepts into practice. These hours are included in the total required for renewal.

Beginning with DEA initial registrations or renewals starting June 27, 2023, all DEA-registered practitioners (with the exception of DVM-only license holders) are required 8 hours on treating and managing patients with opioid or other substance use disorders, including the appropriate clinical use of all FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of a substance use disorder, one-time only.

Authorizing practitioners under the Medical Cannabis Program should take at least 3 hours of continuing education related to medical cannabis, including the proper use of cannabis, pharmacology and effects of cannabis, methods of administration, and potential side effects or risks.

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License Renewal Instructions

For More Information

Please contact the Washington State Department of Health: Washington Medical Commission at (360) 236-2750, or refer to https://wmc.wa.gov/education/continuing-medical-education-cme, for additional information regarding your continuing education.
Suicide Assessment training - https://www.doh.wa.gov/ForPublicHealthandHealthcareProviders/HealthcareProfessionsandFacilities/SuicidePrevention/TrainingPrograms/ModelList.

For additional information regarding NCCPA's continuing education requirement please access their website at https://www.nccpa.net/maintain-certification/continuing-medical-education/.