Virginia Physicians: CME Hours Cut, Plus New Training on the Way

If you hold a Virginia medical license, two changes are worth knowing right now. The Virginia Board of Medicine has already cut the total continuing education needed to renew — from 60 hours down to 30 hours per two-year cycle. Separately, Virginia enacted a 2026 law that will eventually require bias-reduction training as part of renewal, though the specifics still have to be set through Board rulemaking. One change is in force today; the other is on the way. Here is how to tell them apart.

The CME reduction (already in effect)

The Board of Medicine amended its continued-competency rule, 18VAC85-20-235, and the change took effect February 27, 2025. The short version: fewer required hours, but less flexibility in what counts.

• Old requirement: 60 hours of continuing learning activities per biennial (two-year) cycle — at least 30 of them Type 1 (formally organized courses from an accredited sponsor), and up to 30 allowed as Type 2 (self-directed learning chosen by the licensee).
• New requirement: 30 hours per two-year cycle, all of which must be Type 1 activities or courses offered by an accredited sponsor or organization sanctioned by the profession. Type 1 corresponds to the accredited category most physicians know as AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for MDs, or AOA Category 1 for DOs.
• Who it covers: practitioners renewing under Chapter 20 — doctors of medicine (MD) and osteopathic medicine (DO), as well as podiatrists and chiropractors.
• First-renewal exemption: you are exempt from the requirement for the first biennial renewal after your initial Virginia licensure.
• Recordkeeping: you attest to completion at renewal and must keep supporting documentation for six years. Non-compliance may lead to disciplinary action.

The net effect is a lighter total — but the option to fill part of it with self-directed Type 2 activities is gone. Everything now has to be accredited Type 1 learning.

The bias-reduction training (enacted 2026, rules to follow)

In 2026, Virginia enacted SB 22 (with companion bill HB 1147), which Governor Abigail Spanberger signed as part of a package of health bills known as the Queen Candis Act. Similar measures had been vetoed in prior years, so this is a genuine shift.

The law directs the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing to require licensees to complete continuing learning activities on bias reduction in health care as part of their continuing education and continuing-competency requirements for renewal. The first required topic is described as covering how unconscious racial bias affects care during pregnancy and the postpartum period, with additional practice-related topics to be added over time.

What Virginia physicians should do now

1. Plan on 30 Type 1 hours. For your current cycle, make sure your credits are the accredited, formally organized kind (AMA PRA Category 1 for MDs, AOA Category 1 for DOs). Self-directed Type 2 hours no longer count toward the total.
2. Keep your documentation. Retain certificates and records for at least six years in case the Board asks.
3. Watch for the bias-training rules. When the Board of Medicine adopts implementing regulations, they will spell out exactly what the training involves and when it starts.
4. Track it automatically. Add your Virginia license to Med Ed Tracker and we will calculate your renewal deadline, count your logged credits toward the 30-hour total, and remind you before it is due.

Requirements shift more often than you'd think

Virginia is a good example of two things happening at once: an in-force change to how many hours you need, and a newly enacted rule that is still being written. Boards adjust renewal cadences, credit totals, and special-topic courses from cycle to cycle, so it is worth a periodic check on every state where you hold a license. We keep the specifics current in our state-by-state guides: