Home › CME by state › Arkansas
Arkansas CME Requirements (2026): Physicians, NPs, PAs, CRNAs & CAAs
Arkansas regulates five clinician professions through different boards, each with its own continuing-education rules — physicians (MD/DO), nurse practitioners (APRN/NP), physician assistants (PA), nurse anesthetists (CRNA), and anesthesiologist assistants (CAA, in the states that license them). Below, each profession's total hours, mandated topics, opioid/controlled-substance rule, and tracking, plus the one federal rule they share. Last reviewed 2026-08-24.
Physicians (MD / DO)
Set by the Arkansas State Medical Board.
General CME: 20 hours AMA PRA Category 1 per year.
Opioid / controlled substance
1 hours per year - opioid & benzodiazepine prescribing (counts toward the 20-hour annual total). Trigger: all physicians & PAs.
✓ No board pre-approval gate: No board pre-approval — generic ACCME Category 1 counts.
All mandated CME topics
| Topic | Hours | Timing | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled substances / opioid & benzodiazepine prescribing | 1 | each year | all physicians & PAs |
Citation: AR Administrative Rules 060.00.18-001
Nurse Practitioners (APRN / NP)
Set by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing (ASBN) — separate from the physician rules above, with its own hours and topics.
General CE: 15 contact hours accredited practice-focused CE per 2 years OR current national certificate OR approved academic course. APRNs maintain national certificate.
Opioid / controlled substance
2 hours, every 2 years, for holders of controlled-substance prescriptive authority. A board-approved / state-specific course is required — generic accredited credit may not count. Timing is built into the free multi-state planner.
All mandated CE topics
| Topic | Hours | Timing | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacology / pharmacotherapeutics (prescriptive authority) | 5 contact hours | per cycle | prescribers |
| Prescribing education (professional boundaries + AR prescribing rules) - one-time for new prescriptive authority | 3 | one-time within 2 years of issuance (certificates after 12/31/2015) | APRNs with prescriptive authority |
Tracking: CE Broker (ASBN); records retained for audit.
Physician Assistants (PA)
Set by the Arkansas State Medical Board (ASMB) — separate from the physician rules above, with its own hours and topics.
General CE: 20 CME hours per year (17 CAR 140-1809(a)). Maintain NCCPA certificate. Renews annually by birth month.
Opioid / controlled substance
1 hour, every year, for holders of controlled-substance prescriptive authority. Timing is built into the free multi-state planner.
All mandated CE topics
| Topic | Hours | Timing | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacology / pharmacotherapeutics (prescriptive authority) | None | per cycle | prescribers |
| Opioid / controlled-substance prescribing | 1 | annually (within the 20-hour annual requirement) | 'each physician assistant' per rule; tied to prescribing opioids/benzodiazepines |
| Pain management (one-time) | 5 | one-time for Schedule II hydrocodone prescribers | PAs with Schedule II hydrocodone authority |
| Prescribing education course (one-time, new prescribers) | 3 | one-time within ~2 years of licensure/prescribing | newly licensed AR prescribers (secondary sources) |
Tracking: CE Broker (ASMB - PA account) + record retention 3 years; audit.
Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA)
Set by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing (ASBN), Arkansas Department of Health — separate from the physician rules above, with its own hours and topics.
General CE: Arkansas has a single APRN license; CRNA is a role/category within it, so the RN-base CE rule applies: 15 contact hours of appropriately accredited practice-focused CE, or a current nationally recognized certification/recertification, or one college-credit nursing course, per licensure period (ASBN Rules Ch. 2 Sec. VII; ASBN 'Continuing Education' page). Because ASBN Ch. 4 Sec. III.F requires the APRN to document 'current national certification in the appropriate APRN specialty through a maintenance program of a Board approved certifying body' at every renewal, a CRNA who maintains NBCRNA CPC certification meets the CE condition by that route.
NBCRNA recertification is accepted in place of state CE. The RN-base rule accepts 'a current nationally recognized certification/recertification' in lieu of the 15 contact hours, and ASBN Ch. 4 Sec. III.F makes current national certification via the certifying body's maintenance program (NBCRNA CPC for CRNAs) a mandatory renewal document for every APRN. Note: the ASBN 'Approved Certifications' web list is oriented to RN specialty certifications and does not name NBCRNA verbatim; Ch. 4 does not enumerate certifying bodies, it says 'a national certifying body recognized by the Board'. Flagged VERIFY on the wording only — in practice NBCRNA is the sole CRNA certifier and is the certification ASBN requires for CRNA licensure (Ch. 4 Sec. II.B). National layer: NBCRNA continued certification (4-year cycle: 60 Class A + 40 Class B credits, MAC Check).
Opioid / controlled substance
No standalone state opioid/controlled-substance CE mandate identified for this profession. The federal DEA MATE Act (one-time 8-hour training) still applies if you hold a DEA registration.
All mandated CE topics
| Topic | Hours | Timing | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacotherapeutics CE (2 of 5 hrs on professional boundaries + Arkansas prescribing rules/laws) | 5 | per cycle (each biennium) | Only if you hold prescriptive authority: APRNs holding an ASBN prescriptive-authority certificate - NOT CRNAs practicing anesthesia without one (ASBN Ch. 4 Sec. VI.D.9) |
| Prescribing education (professional boundaries + Arkansas prescribing rules/laws) — one-time for new prescriptive authority | 3 | one-time, within 2 yr of issuance of prescriptive authority | Only if you hold prescriptive authority: APRNs newly granted prescriptive authority - reaches a CRNA only if the CRNA obtains prescriptive authority |
Tracking: CE Broker (ASBN official CE tracking) plus licensee record retention; random audit. National certification documented at APRN renewal.
Anesthesiologist Assistants (CAA)
Not authorized to practice in Arkansas.
Certified anesthesiologist assistants cannot practice in Arkansas — there is no CAA license, certification or physician-delegation pathway, so there are no state CE requirements to track here. Pending / recent legislation: HB1251 (2025, 95th General Assembly) 'To Establish the Arkansas Anesthesiologist Assistant Act; and to provide for licensure of anesthesiologist assistants' - sponsor Rep. Lee Johnson; filed 2025-01-27; passed House 72-17-11 on 2025-02-26; referred to Senate Public Health, Welfare & Labor; 'Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment' 2025-05-05. No AA bill in the 2026 fiscal session; next opportunity is the 2027 regular session. NCCAA certification requirements (50 CME hours every 2 years + the CDQ exam) still apply nationally.
Federal — DEA MATE Act (all professions)
One rule is the same for everyone below. Every DEA-registered prescriber — physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and any CRNA or CAA who holds a DEA registration — must complete a one-time 8-hour training on treating patients with opioid or other substance use disorders, as a condition of DEA registration/renewal (since June 27, 2023). It is federal, applies in every state, and does not replace Arkansas's recurring opioid/controlled-substance CME. A MATE-qualifying accredited course will usually still count toward your state general CME/CE total. How the MATE Act differs from state rules →
Authority: MATE Act §1263, Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023 (21 U.S.C. §823).
Notes (physician data)
- Verified 2026-07-16 vs AR Board statutes & rules (Rule 17; A.C.A. 17-80-104): the aggregator '3-hour one-time new-licensee prescribing course' does NOT exist in AR law and was removed. Only prescribing CME is the 1 hours per year opioid & benzodiazepine requirement (inside the 20-hour total).
Pick your profession and all your states in the free planner and get one 5-year schedule that batches your opioid/controlled-substance CME so a single course covers as many licenses as possible.
Build my multi-state CME plan →This page summarizes Arkansas board rules and statutes as of 2026-08-24 for five separately-regulated professions: physicians (MD/DO), nurse practitioners (APRNs), physician assistants (PAs), nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), and anesthesiologist assistants (CAAs). Each is governed by its own board and its hour totals and mandated topics differ — never assume one profession's figures apply to another. Physician data is compiled from FSMB and state medical-board sources; APRN/PA data was validated against nursing- and PA/medical-board rules on 2026-07-20, with the opioid/controlled-substance timing structured on 2026-07-23; CRNA and CAA data was researched against nursing-board, medical-board and practice-act primary sources on 2026-08-24 (items the research could not pin to a primary source are flagged [VERIFY]). This is educational information, not legal advice — always verify current requirements with your own board before relying on them.