Wisconsin Physician Assistant license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Wisconsin physician assistants must complete 30 CME credits of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Wisconsin Physician Assistant Affiliated Credentialing Board, Department of Safety and Professional Services. The physician assistant license renews every two years and expires February 28, or February 29 in a leap year, of each even numbered year. Renewal is a board approved renewal application and the fee, filed before that date, together with an attestation that the continuing medical education requirement has been met. Wisconsin also mandates specific subjects. Responsible controlled substances prescribing: 2 CME credits every renewal cycle. The first renewal is exempt.

Wisconsin 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.

Wis. Admin. Code s. PA 2.04(3) requires a licensee to attest to at least 30 hours of continuing medical education classified as Category 1 as defined by the NCCPA or as approved by the Board, of which at least 2 hours must be on the topic of responsible controlled substances prescribing. Because the whole 30 must be Category 1, the category minimum equals the total and there is no Category 2 allowance in the rule. PA 2.04(4) exempts the first renewal following the date a license is issued. Wisconsin's figure is unusually low for a physician assistant: most states in this dataset set 100 CME credits per two years, and Wisconsin sets 30. It is also lower than the 30 credit physician requirement only in the sense that they match; the two are the same number here.

Required CE topics for Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin PA need to renew?

Wisconsin physician assistants must complete 30 CME credits of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Wisconsin Physician Assistant Affiliated Credentialing Board, Department of Safety and Professional Services. Wis. Admin. Code s. PA 2.04(3) requires a licensee to attest to at least 30 hours of continuing medical education classified as Category 1 as defined by the NCCPA or as approved by the Board, of which at least 2 hours must be on the topic of responsible controlled substances prescribing. Because the whole 30 must be Category 1, the category minimum equals the total and there is no Category 2 allowance in the rule. PA 2.04(4) exempts the first renewal following the date a license is issued. Wisconsin's figure is unusually low for a physician assistant: most states in this dataset set 100 CME credits per two years, and Wisconsin sets 30. It is also lower than the 30 credit physician requirement only in the sense that they match; the two are the same number here.

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

Physician Assistant licenses in Wisconsin renew every two years. The physician assistant license renews every two years and expires February 28, or February 29 in a leap year, of each even numbered year. Renewal is a board approved renewal application and the fee, filed before that date, together with an attestation that the continuing medical education requirement has been met.

What specific CE topics are required for Wisconsin physician assistants?

Responsible controlled substances prescribing: 2 CME credits every renewal cycle. Citations: responsible controlled substances prescribing (Wis. Admin. Code s. PA 2.04(3)(b)).

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

Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates. Continuing medical education must be classified as Category 1 as defined by the NCCPA or otherwise approved by the Board.

Is the first Wisconsin PA renewal exempt from CE?

Yes. Wisconsin does not require continuing education for a PA's first renewal.

Sources

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

• Wis. Admin. Code ch. PA 2, Licensure (sections PA 2.01 and PA 2.04), Physician Assistant Affiliated Credentialing BoardStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• Physician Assistant, Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Wis. Admin. Code s. PA 2.04, License renewal and continuing medical education (Cornell LII mirror)Third-party summary, accessed September 8, 2026

Wisconsin is one of the states where assuming the medical board would be wrong. Physician assistants are regulated by their own body, the Physician Assistant Affiliated Credentialing Board, with its own administrative code title, chapters PA 1 through PA 4, created by emergency rule effective April 1, 2022 and permanently adopted by CR 22-064 effective August 1, 2023. Anyone licensed by the Medical Examining Board as a physician assistant as of April 1, 2022 was carried over and renews under s. PA 2.04. The topic key controlled_substances is not on the canonical list and is used because the mandate covers controlled substance prescribing generally. One source difference is worth recording without treating it as a conflict over the headline numbers: the Cornell mirror of PA 2.04 shows two provisions that do not appear in the official current text read at docs.legis.wisconsin.gov, namely acceptance of active NCCPA certification as meeting the 30 hour requirement and a four year retention period for certificates of attendance. Both sources agree on the 30 hours, the 2 controlled substance hours and the first renewal exemption. Because the official code text is the governing version, the NCCPA substitution is not recorded in alternatives_accepted and retention_years is left null; a physician assistant relying on NCCPA certification instead of counting hours should confirm that with the board. The February 28 or 29 even year renewal date was read on the Department's own physician assistant page, since PA 2.04(1) points to ss. 440.03(9)(a) and 440.08(2)(a), Stats., rather than naming a date.