AAD CME and Continuing Certification Requirements, Credits, and Support Resources

Conclusions

• The American Board of Dermatology still values continuing medical education, but it now treats participation in board activities as evidence that diplomates are earning CME rather than requiring separate annual reporting.
• Most dermatologists will meet or exceed their state licensure CME requirements through the CME generated by ABD and AAD activities, with only a few states having very low or no CME requirements.
• AAD-sponsored education remains an important and substantial CME source because it offers large meetings, frequent educational sessions, question-based learning, and a transcript service for members.
• The AAD CME transcript is intended to consolidate CME from AAD-sponsored activities, ABD continuing certification, practice improvement, and self-reported external education in one place.
• Practice improvement credit can be earned through multiple routes, but the easiest and most common path is completing an ABD-focused practice improvement module.
• Local quality improvement work can count toward practice improvement if it is part of an AAD-recognized activity or an ABMS portfolio sponsor program, and some reciprocal credit is accepted from other ABMS boards.
• The certification program is designed to be flexible for non-clinical diplomates, allowing administrators, researchers, and others without patient care duties to satisfy improvement requirements through appropriate alternative activities.
• The ABD aims to make continuing certification simpler and less burdensome by recognizing existing educational and quality improvement work instead of creating extra reporting tasks.
• Diplomates who are unsure about requirements or credit tracking are encouraged to use ABD and AAD help resources early rather than waiting until the end of a cycle.
• The overall message is that continuing certification can be maintained through a streamlined combination of regular clinical participation, CME-generating education, and recognized quality improvement activities.