Don’t Miss These Required Classes for Renewal

July 31, 2026, license renewal is approaching. Learn which CME courses are required, what is new this cycle, and how to avoid last-minute stress by planning your hours now.

Referenced Links:

Cultural Awareness, Competency, and Critical Consciousness in Healthcare – 2026 Renewal Requirement (webinar)

Advertisement

Transcript:

We are in the final year of the renewal cycle. In fact, it’s July 31, 2026, that is going to be the deadline for renewal. Now, the state has not opened that renewal process yet, so don’t jump out and try to complete it yet. We’re here really to give you kind of that advanced warning of the continuing medical education, or the CME hours that you do have to complete. Now, there’s a number of hours that you have to complete in general, and then there’s also very specific courses that also have to be completed. Some things have changed over the last couple of years that kind of modify how often you have to take some of these courses. And so it’s really important to be able to recognize what some of those are.

Now, first of all, cultural competency. This is the first renewal cycle that one is in play. In other words, this is the first time that one will be required. That is one that you do not have to read to complete every single renewal cycle, but you will have to complete it for this renewal cycle, because it is the first, and so by July 31, you will have to complete the cultural competency course that meets the requirements that the state has set forth. Now I will tell you that next Tuesday, January 20, the Illinois Chiropractic Society is offering that in webinar form, and it’s on our standard Tuesday format, and that is available right now. You can get that registered. We’ll include that link down below, so that cultural competency course will have to be completed by July 31, 2026.

Now, along with it, on a six-year cycle, is the recognizing dementia or the dementia and Alzheimer’s course. Now that particular course also doesn’t have to be completed, except for every six years. So you may have taken the dimension Alzheimer’s class last renewal cycle, and in that case, then you wouldn’t be required to take it again now. And now I will tell you this. The good news is that we do have a refreshed course for dementia and Alzheimer’s. It’s already available for this renewal cycle. It’s already available to you to be able to take, so if you’re not completely certain or you just want to be refreshed on that particular topic, which is key and critical, and I would strongly recommend that. It is also available, already on demand from the Illinois Chiropractic Society, and you can take that again. It’s a phenomenal course, and I would strongly recommend that you take that one. But if you took it last renewal cycle, the one that ended on July 31, 2023, then you wouldn’t be required to take it for this renewal cycle, because it has to be completed every two renewal cycles.

Now there are two other required, mandated courses that are sexual harassment prevention training as well as implicit bias recognition training. Both of those must be completed every renewal cycle. So you will have to complete those for the July 31, 2026, renewal. Again, the good news is the Illinois Chiropractic Society already has those two courses available for you on demand. You can jump out and take those now. Those courses can be included in your category one hours that are required. Don’t forget, you have to have a total of 150 hours, of which a minimum of 60 of those hours must be formal or category one hours, so make sure that you get those done. Don’t wait until the last minute. We see this a lot. We find doctors that are scrambling trying to get their hours completed before that July 31 deadline. Start today, and it won’t seem overwhelming if you haven’t started before now. Start today, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming as we get to the end of July. We’ll catch you next week.