Providing welcome guidance, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) has clarified the unique tracking requirements for state-mandated CME for physicians on pregnancy-related medical emergencies that has been required of certain specialties since Jan. 1.
Senate Bill 31, also known as the Life of the Mother Act, requires physicians who may provide care for pregnant women in Texas to take a one-time, one-hour CME course covering the law’s updates. TMB has the sole course for the CME requirement, which is specialty-specific and not dependent on whether the physician provides obstetric care. The law applies to physicians obtaining or renewing licenses as of the first of this year.
TMB specifies on its website the specialties required to take the course, and the agency is providing it for free via MyTMB.
Physicians need to take the course only one time to satisfy state requirements. A TMB spokesperson explained that because it is taken directly via MyTMB, it won’t show up as a requirement in CE Broker, the online platform physicians are required to use to track all other CME starting Sept. 1.
Instead, once a physician completes the SB 31 course, TMB will automatically note that the requirement is satisfied. The physician will receive a certificate of completion for recordkeeping purposes, but the certificate does not need to be uploaded to CE Broker.
“Any licensee who is required to complete the course will be unable to proceed with their renewal until the course shows as complete in our system,” TMB’s website states.
Furthermore, TMB notes the SB 31 course will not show up in CE Broker’s list of completed courses unless the physician wishes to report it to CE Broker separately for medical ethics and/or professional responsibility CME credit. Only then would the hour-long course apply to the 48 hours required for license renewal. Since TMB is not an accredited CME provider, the course can qualify only for ethics credit, rather than an AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
Other medical specialties can access the course content solely for informational purposes and not credit. It is available for this purpose in the FAQ Section on the TMB website.
Visit the CME section of the Texas Medical Association Knowledge Center’s frequently asked questions for more details on the SB 31 CME.
And don’t forget: For all other mandated CME, as of Sept. 1, physicians are required to record CME credits through CE Broker.
Last Updated On
August 21, 2026
Originally Published On
August 21, 2026
Phil West
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1394
phil.west[at]texmed[dot]org
Phil West is a writer and editor whose publications include the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Austin American-Statesman, and San Antonio Express-News. He earned a BA in journalism from the University of Washington and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin’s James A. Michener Center for Writers. He lives in Austin with his wife, children, and a trio of free-spirited dogs.