Performance Improvement (PI-CME) CME requirements for PAs are confusing to say the least. We now know we need PI-CME. But what’s the deal?

In 2014 the AAPA has moved to a ten-year cycle of logging CME. The ten-year cycle isn’t the most drastic change. The most drastic change is inclusion of PI-CME or Self Assessment CME.

Within the ten-year cycle, we must log CME within a CME cycle, or every two years, so there are 5 CME cycles in a 10-year period. We still need 100 CME credits just like before. The number of credits has not changes. We need fifty of these credits from category 1 CME, which means they have been pre-approved CME by the AAPA or an approved CME agency. You also need fifty category 2 CME credits within a CME cycle. With the new requirements, during the first 4 cycles, at least twenty of the fifty category 1 CME credits MUST be from PI-CME, SA or a combination of both.

New CME requirements are for the first four CME cycles of the ten-year cycle, with the last CME cycle being reserved for preparing for the PANRE.

Remember, there is some flexibility in earning your Performance Improvement PI-CME or SA CME. You need to earn 20 category 1 CME credits from with PI-CME or SA CME, or as a combination of both. But, over the eight years, you have to earn both. You will need forty of PI-CME and 40 of SA but the end of your eighth-year.

Here is a list of AAPA approved PI-CME. PI-CME.

Confusion? Bullet Points of Performance Improvement (PI-CME):

-Re-certify every ten years
-Log CME every two years, or know as a “CME cycle” (which means 2 years)
-100 CME credits needed every 2 years
-50 CME credits are category 1
-50 CME credits are category 2
-20 category 1 CME credits need to be from PI-CME &/or SA CME
-This 20 hours of PI-CME/SA CME must be accumulated for the first 4 CME cycles
-After the first 4 CME cycles, your need to earn a total of 20 PI-CME and 20 SA CMA
-The last CME cycle is reserved for PANRE preparation

Good luck.

Key words Self assessment CME
Performance Improvement CME (PI-CME)