AMA/AAFP Equivalency

The American Medical Association (AMA) and the AAFP have approved the following equivalency statement of AAFP Prescribed credit to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Providers not accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) or by an authorized state medical society may wish to include the equivalency statement if they are not authorized to award AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ through another venue. The following statement should only be used when the CME activity has been designed primarily for family physicians.

The first sentence is the official accreditation statement announcing AAFP Prescribed credits. The statement must include the appropriate AMA approved learning formats. The approved AMA learning formats are: Live activity, Enduring material, Journal-based CME activity, Test-item writing activity, Manuscript review activity, PI CME activity, Internet point-of-care activity.

The following equivalency statement can be included after the official AAFP credit statement:

AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as Prescribed credit, not as Category 1.

It is important to note that the equivalency agreement is not intended to bypass ACCME accreditation, which is required to designate AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. AAFP Prescribed credit is approved for CME activities that have been designed primarily for family physicians and have had AAFP member input. AAFP CME credit is intended for AAFP members because they need AAFP credit for re-election to AAFP. There are occasions, however, when family physicians who are not AAFP members and other physician specialists attend activities that have been approved for AAFP Prescribed credit. It is under such circumstances that the equivalency is appropriate.