Ohio Physician Assistant license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Ohio physician assistants must complete 100 CME credits of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the State Medical Board of Ohio. Physician assistants are licensed by the State Medical Board of Ohio; there is no separate physician assistant board. A license to practice as a physician assistant is valid for a two year period and expires on the date that is two years after the date of issuance, so the deadline follows your own issuance date rather than a common statewide date. Renewal requires the application, the biennial renewal fee of two hundred dollars, and certification that the licensee has maintained national commission certification and complied with continuing medical education. Ohio also mandates specific subjects. Continuing education in pharmacology: 12 CME credits every renewal cycle (physician assistants granted physician-delegated prescriptive authority).

Ohio 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.

Ohio does not set its own hour total for physician assistants. ORC 4730.14 makes renewal conditional on certifying that the applicant has maintained certification by the national commission and complied with continuing medical education, so the operative requirement is the NCCPA's: 100 continuing medical education credits per two year cycle, with the recertification examination by the end of the tenth year of the certification maintenance cycle. The 100 recorded here is that NCCPA figure. On top of it, ORC 4730.49 adds a genuinely Ohio requirement for prescribers: a physician assistant granted physician delegated prescriptive authority must complete at least twelve hours of continuing education in pharmacology every two years through a program approved by the state medical board or a person the board authorizes, and the statute says this pharmacology education is in addition to the continuing education required under section 4730.14. A physician assistant who prescribes controlled substances must also certify to the board whether the applicant has been granted access to the drug database maintained by the state board of pharmacy. The statute allows pro rata reductions for disability or an extended absence from the state.

Required CE topics for Ohio 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 Ohio PA need to renew?

Ohio physician assistants must complete 100 CME credits of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the State Medical Board of Ohio. Ohio does not set its own hour total for physician assistants. ORC 4730.14 makes renewal conditional on certifying that the applicant has maintained certification by the national commission and complied with continuing medical education, so the operative requirement is the NCCPA's: 100 continuing medical education credits per two year cycle, with the recertification examination by the end of the tenth year of the certification maintenance cycle. The 100 recorded here is that NCCPA figure. On top of it, ORC 4730.49 adds a genuinely Ohio requirement for prescribers: a physician assistant granted physician delegated prescriptive authority must complete at least twelve hours of continuing education in pharmacology every two years through a program approved by the state medical board or a person the board authorizes, and the statute says this pharmacology education is in addition to the continuing education required under section 4730.14. A physician assistant who prescribes controlled substances must also certify to the board whether the applicant has been granted access to the drug database maintained by the state board of pharmacy. The statute allows pro rata reductions for disability or an extended absence from the state.

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

Physician Assistant licenses in Ohio renew every two years. Physician assistants are licensed by the State Medical Board of Ohio; there is no separate physician assistant board. A license to practice as a physician assistant is valid for a two year period and expires on the date that is two years after the date of issuance, so the deadline follows your own issuance date rather than a common statewide date. Renewal requires the application, the biennial renewal fee of two hundred dollars, and certification that the licensee has maintained national commission certification and complied with continuing medical education.

What specific CE topics are required for Ohio physician assistants?

Continuing education in pharmacology: 12 CME credits every renewal cycle (physician assistants granted physician-delegated prescriptive authority). Citations: continuing education in pharmacology (ORC 4730.49).

Do Ohio physician assistants have to submit CE certificates at renewal?

Proof of completion must be submitted with the renewal. Pharmacology hours must come from a program or course approved by the State Medical Board of Ohio or a person the board has authorized. The general continuing medical education is whatever the NCCPA accepts for certification maintenance.

Sources

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

• ORC 4730.14, Renewing license (physician assistants)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• ORC 4730.49, Continuing education required for renewal of license (physician assistants)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• Renewal FAQs, State Medical Board of OhioState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Maintaining Certification, National Commission on Certification of Physician AssistantsNational association, accessed September 8, 2026

The two year term running from the date of issuance, the two hundred dollar biennial fee, the certification of maintained national commission certification and continuing medical education compliance, the twelve pharmacology hours for prescribers and the statement that those hours are in addition to the section 4730.14 requirement were all read in the official statute text on the Ohio Laws site. The 100 credit figure is the NCCPA's own, read on the NCCPA site, because Ohio states its requirement by reference to that certification rather than by naming a number; this is flagged in the notes so a reader does not mistake it for an Ohio count. The topic key pharmacology is not canonical and is used per the brief. Carryover, audit practice and retention are not addressed in the statutes read. Ohio's physician requirement is different again, at 100 hours under OAC 4731-10-02, so the physician assistant total here should not be read as inherited from the physician rule even though the number coincides.