MSDC Statement on New CME Mandate from DC Council October 20, 2026

The following is a statement from MSDC President Dr. Klint Peebles on behalf of the Society on new legislation introduced to require additional content-specific CME on all medical providers:

The Medical Society of the District of Columbia is disappointed to see the introduction of B26-862 and urges the Council to shelve the legislation permanently. While the aim of the legislation is understandable and compassionate, mandating that licensed health professionals take specific continuing education courses is not a best practice to ensure good healthcare in the District, and such mandates have not been shown to consistently improve clinical competency or patient outcomes. Licensure requirements should allow healthcare providers to seek out the education they need to support best practices and optimal care in their respective specialties. It is rare that one topic will apply to every specialty of practice. To avoid this, the bill seeks to carve out "direct patient interaction", a phrase with no legal meaning and bound to cause confusion with a licensing process that does not discriminate on how physicians help patients. 

In addition, the licensure process is not one designed to highlight how good a practitioner is at their specialty, but to ensure that the practitioner is qualified to practice in the District. Multiple content-specific CME requirements change the licensure process to one by which practitioners are not judged on baseline qualifications. In addition, as more content-specific requirements are added, the time for CME or CE relevant to the provider’s specialty decreases, thereby diverting limited continuing education time from other critical clinical and patient-care priorities. 

MSDC strongly believes that dementia care and education are important to the medical community. Our DC Area Medical License Center already includes free and low-cost CME on dementia care. In addition, MSDC will shortly announce a new initiative designed to help caregivers of loved ones with dementia live healthier lifestyles respectful of the care they are providing. We encourage the Council to partner with the medical community on voluntary, evidence-based educational initiatives that actually improve care without adding unnecessary licensure mandates.