Connecticut Physician Assistant license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Connecticut physician assistants must complete 100 CME credits of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Practitioner Licensing and Investigations Section (Connecticut Medical Examining Board). A physician assistant license is renewed every year during the month of the licensee's birth, with the Department of Public Health. The department will not renew unless it is satisfied that the physician assistant has met the NCCPA's mandatory continuing medical education requirements and has passed any examination or continued competency assessment NCCPA requires to maintain current certification. Connecticut allows a 90 day grace period after expiration during which the licensee may keep practicing and renew; on day 91 the license becomes void and reinstatement is required. Online renewal is mandatory for physician assistants. Connecticut also mandates specific subjects. Prescribing controlled substances and pain management: 1 CME credit every renewal cycle. Screening for post-traumatic stress disorder, risk of suicide, depression and grief, and suicide prevention training: 2 CME credits on a periodic schedule set by the board.

Connecticut Physician Assistant 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.

Connecticut sets no state hour total of its own for the main requirement. C.G.S. 20-12j conditions renewal on having met the NCCPA's mandatory continuing medical education requirements and on passing any NCCPA examination or continued competency assessment needed to keep certification current. The 100 credit figure recorded here is NCCPA's, read on NCCPA's own certification maintenance page: 100 CME credits logged in each two year cycle, with PANRE or PANRE-LA passed by the end of the tenth year of the ten year maintenance process. Connecticut then adds two small state requirements measured in contact hours of at least 50 minutes each: one hour on prescribing controlled substances and pain management in the preceding two year period, and two hours of veteran oriented mental health and suicide prevention training at the first renewal and periodically after that. This makes the physician assistant obligation different in kind from the Connecticut physician obligation, which is a state count of 50 contact hours per registration period under chapter 370.

Required CE topics for Connecticut physician assistants

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 Connecticut PA need to renew?

Connecticut physician assistants must complete 100 CME credits of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Practitioner Licensing and Investigations Section (Connecticut Medical Examining Board). Connecticut sets no state hour total of its own for the main requirement. C.G.S. 20-12j conditions renewal on having met the NCCPA's mandatory continuing medical education requirements and on passing any NCCPA examination or continued competency assessment needed to keep certification current. The 100 credit figure recorded here is NCCPA's, read on NCCPA's own certification maintenance page: 100 CME credits logged in each two year cycle, with PANRE or PANRE-LA passed by the end of the tenth year of the ten year maintenance process. Connecticut then adds two small state requirements measured in contact hours of at least 50 minutes each: one hour on prescribing controlled substances and pain management in the preceding two year period, and two hours of veteran oriented mental health and suicide prevention training at the first renewal and periodically after that. This makes the physician assistant obligation different in kind from the Connecticut physician obligation, which is a state count of 50 contact hours per registration period under chapter 370.

How often does a Connecticut PA license need to be renewed?

Physician Assistant licenses in Connecticut renew every year. A physician assistant license is renewed every year during the month of the licensee's birth, with the Department of Public Health. The department will not renew unless it is satisfied that the physician assistant has met the NCCPA's mandatory continuing medical education requirements and has passed any examination or continued competency assessment NCCPA requires to maintain current certification. Connecticut allows a 90 day grace period after expiration during which the licensee may keep practicing and renew; on day 91 the license becomes void and reinstatement is required. Online renewal is mandatory for physician assistants.

What specific CE topics are required for Connecticut physician assistants?

Prescribing controlled substances and pain management: 1 CME credit every renewal cycle. Screening for post-traumatic stress disorder, risk of suicide, depression and grief, and suicide prevention training: 2 CME credits on a periodic schedule set by the board. Citations: prescribing controlled substances and pain management (C.G.S. 20-12j(b)(3)) and screening for post-traumatic stress disorder, risk of suicide, depression and grief, and suicide prevention training (C.G.S. 20-12j(b)(4)).

Do Connecticut physician assistants 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. The main requirement is satisfied through NCCPA's continuing medical education and certification maintenance standards. The suicide prevention training must be administered by the American Academy of Physician Associates or its successor, a hospital or other licensed health care institution, or a regionally accredited institution of higher education. The licensee signs an attestation at renewal, keeps records for at least three years after the year the activity was completed, and must produce them to the department within 45 days of a request.

Sources

Last verified September 8, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 370, Medicine and Surgery, including 20-12b and 20-12j (physician assistant licensure and renewal)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• Health Care Practitioner Renewal Information, Connecticut Department of Public HealthState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Physician Assistant Licensure, Connecticut Department of Public HealthState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Maintain Certification, National Commission on Certification of Physician AssistantsNational association, accessed September 8, 2026

Connecticut regulates physician assistants through the Department of Public Health with the Connecticut Medical Examining Board, not through a separate physician assistant board. The renewal statute was read in full on the Connecticut General Assembly's own site; that host presents a certificate chain the fetching tool could not verify, so it was read with a client that tolerated the chain. The 100 credit figure is NCCPA's number, not Connecticut's, and is labelled that way in the notes; Connecticut states no hour total. Public Act 21-121 moved physician assistant renewal out of C.G.S. 19a-88(c) into its own section, 20-12j, in 2021, so older summaries citing 19a-88 for physician assistants are out of date. Sixty hours of didactic pharmacology instruction is an initial licensure requirement under 20-12b, not a renewal requirement, so it is not recorded as CE. The delegation agreement and supervising physician relationship are practice authorizations, not continuing education.