California Laws Governing Continuing Education

  1. The state of California has several laws that govern the curriculum content of certified continuing education.  When developing content for CE’s, its important that you are aware of this.  
  2. The Office of Continuing Professional Development and Outcomes has adopted the Johns Hopkins Diversity Wheel as a way to classify the type of information that is being presented in certified continuing education.  To view a copy of this document:  click here.
  3. The California Medical Association believes that addressing health disparities, understanding social determinants of health and recognizing implicit biases are essential to providing quality and accessible care.   They have created a resource page and toolkit to help CE providers implement standards to address implicit bias, reduce health disparities and comply with the law.  For more information, please visit the CMA’s resource page here 
  4. We have provided links to the other laws surrounding continuing medical education below.
  5. AB-1195
    1. This law went into effect October 4, 2005 and required all continuing medical education to meet the cultural and linguistic concerns of a diverse patient population through professional development.  This law required that all educational activities meet certain criteria 
    2. Legislature Information 
  6. AB-496
    1. This law went into effect September 26, 2014, and expanded the previous cultural linguistics competency laws to include consideration of treatment implications of the treatment of and provision of care to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex communities.  
    2. For more information please click here 
  1. AB-241
    1. This law went into effect October 2, 2019 and required that all continuing education for Physicians, Nurses and Physician Assistants contain curriculum pieces that provide specific instruction in the understanding of implicit bias in treatment. As defined by the law, implicit biases are those that affect our perceptions, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner and often contribute to the unequal treatment of people based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, and other characteristics.  
    2. For more information on AB-241 please click here