The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) ongoing strategic plan includes a commitment to growing the PA profession. With the number of accredited PA programs on the rise, access to clinical training sites and preceptors is widely recognized as one of the rate-limiting steps to the profession's growth. In short, more preceptors equal more PAs. AAPA is excited to collaborate with the Physician Assistant Education Association to increase the number of preceptors and ultimately grow the profess. View the Category 1 CME for Preceptors Guide.

Clinical Year 

• Start Date: June 12, 2023
• End Date: May 17, 2024

Eligibility requirements

• Eligibility is limited to ARC-PA accredited PA programs.
• Only PA programs that have submitted applications and received approval are authorized to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for precepting.
• Eligibility for AAPA Category 1 CME credit is limited to preceptors practicing PAs.
• Preceptors must be fully licensed to practice at the clinical site where the training will occur.
• Preceptors must disclose relevant financial relationships with ACCME-defined commercial interests to PA students.
• All other AAPA CME Standards apply.

Awarding Credit

• Preceptors are no longer subject to any limitation on the number of Category 1 CME they may earn through their time spent precepting PA students. This CME will still be earned at the same rate of 1 CME credit per 40-hour week per PA student precepted. The change is effective as of June 1, 2022.
• PA programs must receive a completed evaluation form from the PA preceptor before awarding CME credit.
• The evaluation form may include a self-report and attestation of the number of weeks the preceptor taught and the number of students precepted. The form must be completed and submitted by the preceptor requesting credit.
• A week is defined as 40 hours of precepting for credit calculation purposes.
• For more information, please visit AAPA’s Accreditation Website.

Overall Learning Objectives

• Demonstration of core medical knowledge about medical conditions for the patients in their practice area.
• Demonstration of critical decision-making and lifelong learning skills.
• Effective communication with patients, their families, physicians, and other healthcare professionals is demonstrated.
• Demonstration of high-quality health care and a commitment to patient safety.
• Demonstration of personal responsibility, ethical standards, and sensitivity to diverse patient populations.
• Demonstration of ongoing evaluation and improvement of their patient care practices.
• Demonstration of the ability to effectively interact with different healthcare delivery systems.