Arkansas Physician (MD) license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Arkansas physicians (MD) must complete 20 CME credits of continuing education every year to renew their license with the Arkansas State Medical Board. Arkansas medical licenses are renewed every year. The annual reregistration fee must be paid before or during the licensee's birth month, and the license expires automatically if the fee is not paid by the last day of the birth month. A delinquent licensee can be reinstated by paying the back fees plus a fifty dollar penalty for each year or part of a year of delinquency, and a license goes to revocation if the fee is unpaid for three consecutive years. Arkansas also mandates specific subjects. Prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines: 1 CME credit every renewal cycle (every physician and physician assistant, each year). Prescribing education for newly licensed prescribers: a one-time requirement of 3 CME credits (prescribers licensed after December 31, 2015, within the first two years of being granted an Arkansas license).

Arkansas Physician (MD) renewal and continuing education rules

"Not stated" means the board's pages and rules we read do not address it. We do not fill in typical values.

17 CAR 140-1101(a), issued under Arkansas Code 17-80-104, requires 20 credit hours of continuing medical education per year. The board counts the year from birth month to birth month: hours reported at a renewal are those earned from the licensee's birth month of the previous year through the birth month of the current year. Fifty percent of the hours, that is 10 hours, must be in subjects pertaining to the physician's primary area of practice and designated as Category 1, which the rule defines as activity designated Category 1 by an ACCME accredited organization or a state medical society, explicitly approved for Category 1 by the AMA or the Arkansas State Medical Board, approved by the AOA Council on Continuing Medical Education, or designated as prescribed hours by the American Academy of Family Physicians. That definition covers both AMA PRA Category 1 and AOA credit, so the same 10 hour Category 1 floor applies to MDs and DOs. One credit hour is allowed per clock hour of participation. The board may grant an extension of time on written application for illness, military service, medical or religious missionary activity, residence in a foreign country, or other extenuating circumstances. The rules read do not state whether excess hours carry forward or whether a first renewal is prorated, so those fields are null.

Required CE topics for Arkansas physician (md)s

State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.

Documentation and audit

Common questions

How many CE hours does a Arkansas MD need to renew?

Arkansas physicians (MD) must complete 20 CME credits of continuing education every year to renew their license with the Arkansas State Medical Board. 17 CAR 140-1101(a), issued under Arkansas Code 17-80-104, requires 20 credit hours of continuing medical education per year. The board counts the year from birth month to birth month: hours reported at a renewal are those earned from the licensee's birth month of the previous year through the birth month of the current year. Fifty percent of the hours, that is 10 hours, must be in subjects pertaining to the physician's primary area of practice and designated as Category 1, which the rule defines as activity designated Category 1 by an ACCME accredited organization or a state medical society, explicitly approved for Category 1 by the AMA or the Arkansas State Medical Board, approved by the AOA Council on Continuing Medical Education, or designated as prescribed hours by the American Academy of Family Physicians. That definition covers both AMA PRA Category 1 and AOA credit, so the same 10 hour Category 1 floor applies to MDs and DOs. One credit hour is allowed per clock hour of participation. The board may grant an extension of time on written application for illness, military service, medical or religious missionary activity, residence in a foreign country, or other extenuating circumstances. The rules read do not state whether excess hours carry forward or whether a first renewal is prorated, so those fields are null.

How often does a Arkansas MD license need to be renewed?

Physician (MD) licenses in Arkansas renew every year. Arkansas medical licenses are renewed every year. The annual reregistration fee must be paid before or during the licensee's birth month, and the license expires automatically if the fee is not paid by the last day of the birth month. A delinquent licensee can be reinstated by paying the back fees plus a fifty dollar penalty for each year or part of a year of delinquency, and a license goes to revocation if the fee is unpaid for three consecutive years.

What specific CE topics are required for Arkansas physicians (MD)?

Prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines: 1 CME credit every renewal cycle (every physician and physician assistant, each year). Prescribing education for newly licensed prescribers: a one-time requirement of 3 CME credits (prescribers licensed after December 31, 2015, within the first two years of being granted an Arkansas license). Citations: prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines (17 CAR 140-1101(c)) and prescribing education for newly licensed prescribers (17 CAR 140-202(6)(b)).

Do Arkansas physicians (MD) have to submit CE certificates at renewal?

Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates, the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation, and records must be kept for 3 years. Each year the board includes with the renewal application a form on which the licensee certifies by signature, under penalty of perjury, that the CME requirement has been met (17 CAR 140-1101(e)). The board may randomly require a physician to demonstrate compliance before renewal, and the board's frequently asked questions page says random audits are performed monthly and that a licensee who is audited must submit certificates of CME completion. An AMA Physician's Recognition Award certificate covering the reporting period, or an American Osteopathic Association or Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association certificate of CME completion or AOA individual activity report, is accepted as bona fide evidence of compliance. Records must be kept in an orderly manner for at least three years from the end of the reporting period and made available to the board on request. The board has partnered with CE Broker as a way to track continuing education, but the board states participation is voluntary.

Sources

Last verified September 7, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• Frequently Asked Questions, For the Practitioner, Medical Doctor / Osteopathic Doctor, Arkansas State Medical BoardState board page, accessed September 7, 2026
• Medical Doctor / Osteopathic Doctor, Arkansas State Medical BoardState board page, accessed September 7, 2026
• 17 CAR 140-1101, Continuing medical education, Arkansas State Medical Board RulesStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 7, 2026
• 17 CAR 140-202, Malpractice defined, Arkansas State Medical Board RulesStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 7, 2026
• Arkansas Code 17-95-408, Annual registration (Justia mirror of the 2025 Arkansas Code)Third-party summary, accessed September 7, 2026

Arkansas has no separate osteopathic board. The Arkansas State Medical Board licenses and renews both MDs and DOs, its practitioner section treats them as one category (Medical Doctor / Osteopathic Doctor), and 17 CAR 140-1101 applies to every person holding an active license to practice medicine in the state, so ar-physician_md and ar-physician_do cite the same sources and carry the same values. The 20 hours per year, the 50 percent Category 1 requirement, the one hour opioid and benzodiazepine hour, the extension provision, the certification under penalty of perjury and the three year record retention were read in 17 CAR 140-1101 on the Code of Arkansas Rules, which the state designates as the official version. The three hour prescribing education requirement for prescribers licensed after December 31, 2015 was read in 17 CAR 140-202. The annual birth month registration and the automatic expiration were read in Arkansas Code 17-95-408 on the Justia mirror, because the Arkansas General Assembly publishes the code text as PDF and the state board's own statute compilation is also a PDF; neither was downloaded. The board's frequently asked questions page confirms 20 hours annually, the birth month to birth month reporting window, the 50 percent Category 1 rule, the opioid and benzodiazepine hour, and monthly random audits. The board's MD and DO application pack, which reportedly describes the renewal notices and the fifty dollar late fee, is a PDF and was not opened. No carryover allowance, no cap on self study hours and no first renewal exemption appear in the rules read, so those fields are null.