A guide to your AAFP membership re-election requirements.
You work hard to maintain and improve your medical knowledge with Continuing Medical Education credits (CME). Our job is to support you in your learning journey, which includes reporting your CME every three years to remain an active AAFP member.
Here are the steps to check your status and ensure you meet membership requirements. If you fall into a re-election year, CME is due each year on Dec. 31.
Check Your Status
Open My Account and select the Re-election Details tab by My AAFP.
Active members are required to report 150 credits of CME every three calendar years as a condition of continued membership. This is called a re-election cycle.
If you're a member in your first re-election cycle, the cycle is four years: the year you became an Active member and the next three full calendar years.
To be eligible for AAFP membership, you must earn and report the required CME credits within your specific re-election cycle. Once you've met the CME requirement and paid your dues, you're “re-elected” to AAFP membership. If your re-election requirements are not met, your membership will be canceled.
CME must be reported in the year it is earned. Members up for re-election in 2025 will need to report CME by Dec. 31.
The AAFP’s CME Reporter is an easy way to report your CME as you go. You get transcript updates, record access including letters of participation and CME progress tracking.
Existing Active members
You must complete a re-election cycle every three years to maintain your membership. The cycle consists of earning and reporting at least 150 credits of approved CME, including a minimum of 75 Prescribed credits (some chapters require additional specific credits).
Your re-election cycle begins on Jan. 1 of the year following the activation of your membership and lasts for three full calendar years.
New members
You can also earn CME for the year in which your membership is activated and apply these credits toward your first re-election cycle. This gives you additional time to earn the required credits during your first cycle.
Third-year family medicine residents
You can begin reporting CME on Jan. 1 in the year you complete your residency. It’s like getting an extra year to earn and report CME for the first re-election cycle.
Formal CME includes activities that have been certified by the AAFP for Prescribed or Elective credit or certified by another AAFP-recognized system. Informal CME includes self-directed learning activities that are not certified for credit.
Includes activities approved for the American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award Category 1 Credit™ or American Osteopathic Association credit, or Professional Enrichment (attending medical staff or medical society meetings).
Other activities that may be eligible for Prescribed or Elective CME credit include medical seminars or conferences, lecture series, advanced training, scholarly work such as clinical research, or medical writing or editing. (There may be limits on the number of credits from these types of activities applied to each re-election cycle.) †A maximum of 60 Prescribed credits can be applied during a three-year re-election cycle for teaching.
Unsure about your re-election cycle? Log into My Account and find your status in the Re-election Details tab next to My AAFP.
Use our CME Reporter tool to search for and document CME activities you’ve taken in journals and self-paced courses. You can also manually report CME with a paper form.
Need more information? Look through our Obtain and Report CME Credit webpage.
*Send your completed CME reporting form or certificate of participation.
If you have any questions, call the Member Resource Center at (800) 274-2237.
This could be for one of four reasons:
AAFP’s Bylaws do not allow for an extension to earn CME credit.
If you're concerned that you don’t have the required CME credits, contact us at (800) 274-2237 or aafp@aafp.org. We can help get your CME recorded.
Members often find they have more CME than they thought after speaking with our Member Resource Center.
Evidence-based CME is not a requirement of membership.
Contact the Member Resource Center for assistance in reviewing your options or reporting CME to reinstate your membership.
We are able to transfer any CME you report to us directly to the ABFM at their request. The AAFP will provide the total number of CME credits a member has reported for a specified time frame. This process eliminates the need for members to submit their CME information to both organizations separately.
However, if you’ve only reported your CME to the ABFM, we’re unable to see that information. We’ll need you to report those credits via one of our reporting methods.