New York Physician Assistant license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

New York does not require continuing education for PA license renewal, which happens every three years. New York licenses physician assistants through the State Education Department's Office of the Professions, not through a separate physician assistant board and not through the Department of Health. The license is issued for the period expiring December 31 of the first odd numbered year, and after that Education Law 6541 sets renewal periods as triennial with a forty five dollar renewal fee. The Office of the Professions mails renewal information about four months before the registration expires. Note that physicians in New York reregister every two years, so the physician assistant cycle is a year longer. The Office of the Professions sets the registration period to the licensee's month of birth: the second registration after licensure is a pro-rated transitional period that ends with the month prior to the date of birth, which the Department states is what allows it to adjust the triennial registration cycle to coincide with the month of date of birth. Renewal is therefore due in the licensee's birth month every three years. New York also mandates specific subjects. Coursework or training in infection control and barrier precautions to prevent transmission of HIV and hepatitis B: required on a periodic schedule set by the board (physicians, physician assistants and specialist assistants). Mandatory prescriber education in pain management, palliative care and addiction: 3 hours on a periodic schedule set by the board (only prescribers licensed under Title 8 of the Education Law to treat humans who hold a DEA registration number to prescribe controlled substances).

New York 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.

New York sets no continuing education hour count for physician assistants. The Office of the Professions page listing every profession with mandatory continuing education names 31 professions and physician assistant is not among them, and neither is nursing or medicine. Education Law 6541 does contemplate one: it says the department shall issue a renewal on receipt of the application together with evidence of satisfactory completion of such continuing education requirements as may be established by the commissioner of health pursuant to Public Health Law 3701. No such requirement was located in a source read here, so no hour count is recorded. What New York does impose is specific mandated coursework: infection control and barrier precautions training at initial licensure and every four years thereafter under Public Health Law 239, and, for a physician assistant who holds a DEA registration, three hours of prescriber education in pain management, palliative care and addiction every three years under Public Health Law 3309-a(3). Initial licensure requires passing the PANCE administered by the NCCPA, but nothing read here conditions renewal on keeping NCCPA certification current, which is a real difference from states that treat the NCCPA's 100 credits per two year cycle as the renewal requirement.

Required CE topics for New York 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 New York PA need to renew?

New York does not require continuing education for PA license renewal, which happens every three years. New York sets no continuing education hour count for physician assistants. The Office of the Professions page listing every profession with mandatory continuing education names 31 professions and physician assistant is not among them, and neither is nursing or medicine. Education Law 6541 does contemplate one: it says the department shall issue a renewal on receipt of the application together with evidence of satisfactory completion of such continuing education requirements as may be established by the commissioner of health pursuant to Public Health Law 3701. No such requirement was located in a source read here, so no hour count is recorded. What New York does impose is specific mandated coursework: infection control and barrier precautions training at initial licensure and every four years thereafter under Public Health Law 239, and, for a physician assistant who holds a DEA registration, three hours of prescriber education in pain management, palliative care and addiction every three years under Public Health Law 3309-a(3). Initial licensure requires passing the PANCE administered by the NCCPA, but nothing read here conditions renewal on keeping NCCPA certification current, which is a real difference from states that treat the NCCPA's 100 credits per two year cycle as the renewal requirement.

How often does a New York PA license need to be renewed?

Physician Assistant licenses in New York renew every three years. New York licenses physician assistants through the State Education Department's Office of the Professions, not through a separate physician assistant board and not through the Department of Health. The license is issued for the period expiring December 31 of the first odd numbered year, and after that Education Law 6541 sets renewal periods as triennial with a forty five dollar renewal fee. The Office of the Professions mails renewal information about four months before the registration expires. Note that physicians in New York reregister every two years, so the physician assistant cycle is a year longer. The Office of the Professions sets the registration period to the licensee's month of birth: the second registration after licensure is a pro-rated transitional period that ends with the month prior to the date of birth, which the Department states is what allows it to adjust the triennial registration cycle to coincide with the month of date of birth. Renewal is therefore due in the licensee's birth month every three years.

What specific CE topics are required for New York physician assistants?

Coursework or training in infection control and barrier precautions to prevent transmission of HIV and hepatitis B: required on a periodic schedule set by the board (physicians, physician assistants and specialist assistants). Mandatory prescriber education in pain management, palliative care and addiction: 3 hours on a periodic schedule set by the board (only prescribers licensed under Title 8 of the Education Law to treat humans who hold a DEA registration number to prescribe controlled substances). Citations: coursework or training in infection control and barrier precautions to prevent transmission of HIV and hepatitis B (Public Health Law 239) and mandatory prescriber education in pain management, palliative care and addiction (Public Health Law 3309-a(3)).

Sources

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

• Education Law Article 131-B, Physician Assistants (section 6541, requirements for a license and triennial renewal), NYS Office of the ProfessionsStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• Physician Assistant License Requirements, NYS Office of the ProfessionsState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Physician Assistants, NYS Office of the ProfessionsState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Training and Continuing Education, NYS Office of the Professions (list of professions with mandatory continuing education)State board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Mandated Training Related to Infection Control, NYS Office of the ProfessionsState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• NYSDOH Mandatory Prescriber Education, NYS Office of the ProfessionsState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Online Registration Renewal, NYS Office of the ProfessionsState board page, accessed September 8, 2026

The triennial renewal period, the forty five dollar fee and the December 31 first odd numbered year expiration of the initial license were read in the text of Education Law 6541 hosted on the department's own site. The absence of a continuing education hour requirement was confirmed positively: the department's page listing every profession with mandatory continuing education names 31 professions and physician assistant is not one of them. The open question, recorded honestly in the continuing education notes rather than resolved, is that Education Law 6541 defers to continuing education requirements the commissioner of health may establish under Public Health Law 3701; the Department of Health page for physician assistants at https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/doctors/conduct/physician_assistant.htm returns HTTP 403 to automated clients and a person should open it in a browser to confirm that no such requirement has been adopted. 10 NYCRR Part 94 (physician assistants and specialist assistants) was not read. The child abuse identification and reporting requirement was not recorded for physician assistants: the department's mandated training page states the requirement one profession at a time and physician assistant did not appear in the list that was read, so its applicability is unconfirmed. Basis is recorded as other because New York keys registration to the department's assigned registration period. Renewal basis corrected 2026-09-10 from other to birth_month. NYSED's online registration renewal page states that the transitional second registration period ends with the month prior to the licensee's date of birth and that this allows the Department to adjust the triennial registration cycle to coincide with the month of date of birth. That machinery is department-wide, and the New York records for physical therapy, occupational therapy, dentistry, nurse anesthesia and nurse-midwifery already recorded birth_month on the same basis. This record previously said other, which was an inconsistency in our data rather than a difference between the professions.