General
AOA members exempted from the CME program requirements include: retired members who do not hold an active license to practice medicine; AOA members outside the geographic boundaries of the United States and Canada; student members; interns, and residents; fellows; members participating in AOA recognized postgraduate programs; military members assigned positions other than in their specialty or who are involved in significant military operations; and disabled members. AOA Life Members in active practice have a CME requirement.
Osteopathic Physicians in the Military Waiver
The council is aware of the difficulty that osteopathic physicians in the military, Veteran Administration, and U.S. Public Health Service may have in acquiring osteopathic continuing medical education.
The Uniformed Services encourages osteopathic physicians to meet their full obligation to CME and the AOA also feels that it is essential that, as an osteopathic physician, a portion of this education should be osteopathic in nature.
The AOA policy related to osteopathic physicians in the military is that five credits per year, or up to 15 hours of the 30 AOA Category 1-A credit requirement per three-year cycle will be reduced. This reduction is available only to those physicians on active duty who have accumulated a total of 120 hours of CME and who request said reduction from the Council on CME. The total CME requirement will be proportionally adjusted for time spent outside the U.S.
Extenuating Circumstances
If there are extenuating circumstances that have prevented you from obtaining sufficient credit, such as serious illness, financial or family problems, we urge you to report this to the AOA Council on Continuing Medical Education and the AOA Department of Membership, as you may qualify for a reduction in your requirement. Changes in your practice status since the beginning of the CME cycle may reduce your AOA CME requirement. For additional information on extenuating circumstances, please contact the Director of CME at 1-800-621-1773, ext. 8262.
AOA exemptions or reductions in the number of required credits for membership or certification do not pertain to individual state CME licensing requirements. The Council on CME will grant no reductions without due cause unless policy advises otherwise.