Let me guess... Your employer is not reimbursing you for CME?
Or, maybe you receive reimbursement, but your budget is limited.
You get all those mailers about fabulous CME events in exotic places at fancy hotels only to flip it over and vomit at the price tag.
With limited vacation time and limited money, maybe you are like me, and you don't wish to spend your entire vacation budget on a CME trip to Hawaii. Yes, it could be somewhat relaxing, but it's still not a "vacation" in the conventional sense.
How to Get CME as a Broke-Ass PA
OK, so I am not exactly broke, but I used to be.
I have two children in braces, a wife working part-time, a struggling retirement account, a car payment, a mortgage payment, and, to top it off, I don't receive a CME stipend from my employer!
The only good news is I don't have any PA school loans.
So, I am always looking to save money where I can, especially when it comes to CME, which can be very expensive.
Also, maybe like yourself, I had to pay for my DEA license, renew my California PA license, and fork over some money to the NCCPA for the privilege of maintaining my certification.
This has brought my total PA related bill to well over $1,200 for the year.... yikes!
I hated to do it, but I have had to opt-out of an annual AAPA membership and my state PA chapter because I couldn't afford it.
CME on The Cheap (And Down-Low)
So, I will let you in on two + resources that will allow you to get all your CME for less than $245 per year.
Saving you time, frustration, and most of all, money!
1. The PRIMED Medical Conference
Web Site: www.pri-med.com
A colleague of mine introduced me to PRIMED years ago, and I have never looked back.
It is an excellent source of top-notch information and is good for about 35 category 1 CME credits. What's the best part? The cost to attend the Primed Conference is about $90 (early registration) for the entire four-day event!
It is subsidized by pharmaceutical companies, and this is obvious from the start. But I find the CME to be timely and (although at times biased) very good, the event is enormous, and the food, services, and people are wonderful.
They have five large conferences every year covering the entirety of the United States along with several smaller "regional" meetings.
In my opinion, it is the only conference to go to if you have to pay for CME out-of-pocket. And if you don't? Well then, enjoy the best conference you can attend (preferably someplace warm and exotic) and stay at the Marriott.
I will be thinking of you while I am at Motel 6.
2. American Family Physician (AFP) Journal
Web Site: www.aafp.org
With an AFP journal subscription, you can accrue all the CME you need every two years without exception.
A digital-only membership is $140 per year, allows you to stay up to date with all general health topics, and is just an all-around fantastic resource.
I started reading The AFP Journal in PA school with a $40 student membership because I loved the clinical information. Now I read it for both the CME and the articles. It is a great medical journal and is big on CME.
It's the best deal in town!
AFP Digital-only Subscription
- One year digital access
- AFP Journal App
- More than 130 CME/CE credits
- AFP by Topic and Podcasts
3. Prescriber's Letter
Web Site: www.prescribersletter.com
If you stopped at the above two recommendations, you would be good for all your CME needs.
I include The Prescribers Letter because it offers an incredible wealth of information and provides a lot of high-quality CME.
I choose to subscribe to the digital edition. It keeps me up to date and has an excellent, searchable database that will make you a top-notch, better informed PA.
I can't recommend The Prescriber's Letter enough for unbiased research and great clinical pearls!
**Update for 2019-2020: the price for Prescribers Letter Gold 1-year subscription is $139 (still a good deal)
So there you have it, my short and easy list of CME on the cheap. If you have any other recommendations, please let me know in the comments section.
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Hello! Does the Digital American Family Physicians AFP provide Category 1 CME credits?
Yep! Lots of them 🙂
I have been wanting to get all the physician CME classes done as soon as possible this year and with as little money as possible. It is good to know that I can accrue CME credits with the AAFP membership, it would be way cheaper that way. I also like that it would be at my leisure to do them.
UptoDate – if you have your own log on and use it frequently, it adds up
Cleveland Clinic – lots of good ones, free, quick. I went through several hours of CMEs pretty easily a few days ago and learned a lot at the same time!
or you could just use medpagetoday.com – they have a ton of free cme stuff. That includes a simple multiple choice at the end of some news articles and a section devoted to cme
Hi James,
Thanks for the recommendation!
Stephen
I am a PA returning to practicing after a hiatus. I had all my 100 Cat 1 CME mapped out and paid for. But since the NCCPA recently changed the CME requirements to include 20 credits of CME, I’ve been looking for an inexpensive way to get those 20 SA credits.
I can see the new system is designed to shunt more PAs into the AAPA – as with the O’Connell Recert book and study test for the the 20 credits…but one must be an AAPA fellow member to qualify for the SA credits to the tune of $295. As not working right now this is unanticipated expense.
Will check out Melissa’s Roshview.com for $99, but if anyone can suggest something at a lesser cost, that doesn’t require jumping thru a bunch of hoops to get it done, I’d greatly appreciate it!
it was recently announced that “self assessment” CME is no longer required
I tried to join AAFP the cost came up over $400 dollars per hear.
Yeah. No idea why I got it to work like that. I didn’t actually join, just was subscribing to the journal. I still haven’t purchased it yet. Trying to get all the free CME I can get through AAPA of which I am already a member.
You can subscribe to the digital only edition for $210. I know this isn’t necessarily cheap, but when compared to many of the alternatives, this is still a very good value. https://nf.aafp.org/Shop/PublicCart
I found a great resource for the new Self Assessment CMEs at Roshreview.com. You can get 20 SA CME for $99!!! Great deal, and easy way to get them done!
Hey Melissa, this requires membership in AAPA, right?
What do you think about my CME.com? I have been using it as a resource for about a year and it seems ok and now it offers direct reporting of your CME to NCCPA. Just want to know your thoughts.
Just an FYI, I just logged on to AAFP to receive their digital copy only of the journal. In filling out information for the site that verifies that I am a PA-C, it dropped the price from $210 to $120. Print and digital copy is $145 per year. For a journal that boasts 90 CME credits per year, this is a great deal.
Thanks for sharing Caroline, this still may be the best deal for CME out there!
– Stephen
Stephen,
I have been using Pri-Med to get some of my CME Category 1. I have been doing multiple online CME tests/courses for 0.50 – 1.25 credits a piece, but they’re accredited by the AMA. Is this credible certification and documentation that will be counted by NCCPA? thank you in advance
Hi Maci,
Yep, I have used Pri-Med for years and you just have to enter it as such in the NCCPA CME dashboard. It’s a great source of high quality CME
– Stephen
Hi Stephen,
Does PRI-MED CME count as Cat 1 or 2 CME for PAs?
Hi Fabbiha, Pri-Med counts as category 1. I will be going to the Pri-Med West conference this year at the end of May. If you attend make sure to go the day before for the primary care updates as this day tends to be the best of the entire conference.
Stephen
I realize this is a couple years ago it seems. I just ran across this article because I am in the same shoes financially and am looking for good quality CME for less money. However when I went to check the subscription price to AFP it states over $200 per year!! That is a long way from $85???
Hi Sherry,
You are absolutely right, the subscription to AFP has literally doubled in the last two years, I think they caught on to the fact that they were underpriced. In fact, my subscription just came due and I haven’t renewed yet as I am not sure it is as good of a deal as it used to be. That being said, CME in general is expensive and being able to get all your required CME without having to fork over hotel stays and travel expenses it still may be the best deal in town. There is a lot of free cme out there but it is usually more work than it is worth in my experience.
Also, in regards to the other resources on this page, the natural medicines database has tripled in price in the same time period, but the PRIMED conference continues to be spectacularly priced at $45 for a 4 day conference with early registration.
I will update the price on this post, thanks for the comment!
– Stephen
Thanks ! I went to prime-med based on this article. Very pharmaceutical heavy.(only at lunch if you go to a ticketed/sponsored event)…… but such a great deal and the lectures were fabulous. I am a np and had planned to alternate between np centered conference and this… but I am going to stick with this venue next year.
I second the recommendation for American Family Physician. I get the majority of my CME from these guys and they keep track of it on their website so I can go back and log it at NCCPA when it’s convenient.
The Review articles are great for re-certification time.
Question? Someone told me that I can apply CME credits I earn in PA school to my first year in practice. Do you know if this is true?
Yes, I am sure you can as long as they fit into the NCCPA timeline for earning CME you should be just fine.
Stephen