Free CME Webcasts and Videos on the Internet

Directory of free and low-cost CME, CE, grand rounds, medical webcasts, and professional education videos

Free CME, CE, medical webcasts, and professional education videos

Free CME, CE, medical webcasts, and online medical education videos are internet-based educational resources used by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, public health professionals, and other members of the healthcare workforce to maintain knowledge and meet professional continuing education requirements.

This page lists reputable sources for free or low-cost continuing medical education (CME), continuing education (CE), webcasts, archived lectures, grand rounds, and medical video learning. Availability of credit varies by activity, profession, state, specialty board, and expiration date. Users should always confirm credit eligibility directly with the sponsoring organization before relying on a course for licensure, board certification, or credentialing.

Important note about CME credit

Many websites provide free medical videos, but not all videos provide formal CME or CE credit. Before completing an activity, verify:

• Whether the activity offers CME, CE, CEU, CNE, CPE, MOC, or another credit type.
• Whether the activity is still active and not expired.
• Whether registration, post-test, evaluation, or certificate download is required.
• Whether the credit is accepted by your licensing board, hospital, employer, or specialty board.
• Whether the activity is free or requires payment for the certificate.

Major free CME and CE platforms

CDC continuing education and CDC TRAIN

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides many free continuing education opportunities for healthcare and public health professionals.

• CDC Continuing Education
  • Official CDC continuing education portal.
  • Offers multiple types of CE for health professionals.
  • Activities may include web-based courses, live events, enduring materials, podcasts, journal activities, and webcasts.

• CDC TRAIN
  • CDC TRAIN is CDC's online learning system and part of the TRAIN Learning Network.
  • Offers many public health training opportunities, including courses with free CE.
  • Users generally need a free account to register, complete evaluations, and obtain certificates.

• CDC Learning Connection
  • Curated CDC and federally funded training for public health and healthcare professionals.
  • Useful for finding recently highlighted courses and free CE opportunities.

• CDC NHSN Continuing Education
  • Training and CE related to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), infection prevention, surveillance, and healthcare-associated infections.

NIH VideoCast and NIH Grand Rounds

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides live and archived biomedical lectures, conferences, and grand rounds through NIH VideoCast.

• NIH VideoCast
  • Live and archived NIH lectures, conferences, symposia, and scientific presentations.
  • Useful for clinical medicine, biomedical research, public health, and translational science education.

• NIH Clinical Center Grand Rounds
  • Weekly CME-eligible lecture series from the NIH Clinical Center.
  • Topics include clinical advances, research updates, diagnostic challenges, and contemporary issues in medicine.

Mayo Clinic online CME

• Mayo Clinic Online CME
  • Online self-paced CME courses and medical education activities.
  • Topics cover many clinical specialties and practice areas.
  • Some courses may be free while others may require payment.

Medscape CME and CE

• Medscape Education
  • Free CME and CE activities across many specialties.
  • Registration is required.
  • Includes articles, cases, videos, expert interviews, conference coverage, and interactive learning.

AMA Ed Hub

• AMA Ed Hub
  • Online CME and professional education activities from the American Medical Association and partner organizations.
  • Includes CME, practice improvement, physician leadership, ethics, and specialty education.
  • Free and paid activities may both be available.

AHRQ education and training

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality education and training
  • Patient safety, quality improvement, evidence-based medicine, clinical practice improvement, and healthcare systems education.

Grand rounds and academic medical center video education

NIH Clinical Center Grand Rounds

• NIH Clinical Center Grand Rounds
  • Weekly CME-eligible lectures from NIH.
  • Appropriate for clinicians, researchers, nurses, and other health professionals.

CDC Public Health Grand Rounds archives

• CDC Public Health Grand Rounds Archives
  • Archived CDC grand rounds on public health issues.
  • Some older activities may no longer offer active CE credit, but remain useful educational materials.

UCSF Department of Medicine Grand Rounds

• UCSF Department of Medicine Grand Rounds Recordings
  • Archived academic grand rounds from the University of California, San Francisco Department of Medicine.
  • Useful for internal medicine, subspecialty updates, policy, quality, and clinical education.
  • CME credit availability should be checked for each activity.

Mayo Clinic webcasts and education

• Mayo Clinic School of Continuous Professional Development
  • Continuing medical education courses, videos, conferences, and online activities.

Public health and population health education

CDC and federal public health training

• CDC Continuing Education
• CDC TRAIN
• CDC Learning Connection
• CDC public health training and education resources

Common topics include:

• Epidemiology
• Immunization
• Infection control
• Emergency preparedness
• Environmental health
• Chronic disease prevention
• Health equity
• Public health surveillance
• Occupational health
• Healthcare-associated infection prevention

Public Health Foundation TRAIN Learning Network

• TRAIN Learning Network
  • Large catalog of public health training.
  • Includes courses from many public health agencies and partners.
  • Some activities provide free CE.

Primary care and family medicine

AAFP CME

• American Academy of Family Physicians CME
  • CME for family medicine, primary care, preventive care, chronic disease management, and practice improvement.
  • Free and paid activities may be available.

Pri-Med

• Pri-Med
  • Primary care-focused CME activities, conferences, webcasts, podcasts, and online learning.
  • Registration may be required.

Internal medicine and general medicine

Useful sources include:

• UCSF Department of Medicine Grand Rounds
• NIH Clinical Center Grand Rounds
• Medscape Internal Medicine CME
• AMA Ed Hub

Common topics include:

• Diabetes mellitus
• Hypertension
• Obesity
• Cardiovascular disease
• Infectious disease
• Kidney disease
• Pulmonary disease
• Gastroenterology
• Geriatrics
• Preventive medicine

Cardiology CME and webcasts

• American College of Cardiology Education
  • Cardiology education, guidelines, cases, and CME activities.
  • Free and member-only content may both be available.

• American Heart Association Professional Education
  • Cardiovascular education for physicians, nurses, emergency professionals, and allied health professionals.

• Medscape Cardiology CME
  • Free cardiology CME and CE activities after registration.

Infectious disease, HIV, and immunization education

• CDC Continuing Education
  • Immunization, infection control, outbreak response, and infectious disease activities.

• CDC TRAIN
  • Search for immunization, HIV, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infection, infection control, and travel health courses.

• National HIV Curriculum
  • Free educational curriculum from the University of Washington.
  • Useful for HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment education.
  • Continuing education availability should be checked on the site.

• CDC vaccine education and training
  • Vaccine storage, administration, schedules, safety, and immunization practice.

Psychiatry, mental health, and behavioral health education

• American Psychiatric Association Education
  • Psychiatry education, online learning, and CME opportunities.

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  • Federal mental health and substance use education resources.
  • CME/CE availability varies by activity and partner platform.

• Medscape Psychiatry CME
  • Psychiatry and behavioral health CME/CE activities.

Common topics include:

• Depression
• Anxiety disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Substance use disorder
• Sleep disorder
• Suicide prevention
• Trauma-informed care

Surgery and procedural video education

Many surgical videos are educational but do not always provide CME credit. Confirm credit status before using them for licensure.

• American College of Surgeons Education
  • Surgical education, skills, quality improvement, and CME.

• Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons
  • Surgical videos, guidelines, and education.
  • CME availability varies.

• Academic surgical societies
  • Academic surgery education and meeting resources.

Orthopedics and sports medicine

• American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Education
  • Orthopedic CME, courses, surgical education, and board review.

• American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
  • Sports medicine education and CME resources.

Rheumatology education

• American College of Rheumatology Education
  • Rheumatology CME, meetings, guidelines, and clinical education.

• Medscape Rheumatology CME
  • Free rheumatology CME/CE activities after registration.

Urology education

• American Urological Association Education
  • Urology CME, guidelines, courses, and practice updates.

• Medscape Urology CME
  • Urology CME/CE activities.

Dental and oral health continuing education

• American Dental Association Continuing Education
  • Dental CE courses and professional education.

• CDC oral health resources
  • Public health oral health education and prevention resources.

Nursing, pharmacy, and interprofessional CE

Although this page focuses on CME, many resources also offer nursing, pharmacy, and interprofessional credits.

• CDC Continuing Education
  • CDC is accredited to provide several types of continuing education for health professionals.

• CDC TRAIN
  • Public health and interprofessional CE courses.

• Medscape Education
  • CME, CNE, CE, and other health professional credits vary by course.

Video libraries without guaranteed CME credit

The following resources provide useful medical or scientific videos, but CME credit may not be available for every item:

• NIH VideoCast
• CDC YouTube / Streaming Health
• NIH VideoCast videos
• UCSF Grand Rounds Recordings
• Stanford Medicine videos
• Mayo Clinic videos

How to evaluate a free CME website

Before registering for any online CME or CE activity, check:

• Who accredits the activity?
• What credit type is offered?
• Is the activity free, or is only the video free?
• Is the certificate free?
• When does the credit expire?
• Is commercial support disclosed?
• Are faculty conflicts of interest disclosed?
• Is the activity relevant to your profession and license?
• Is the site from a reputable medical school, government agency, professional society, hospital, journal, or accredited CME provider?

Common CME and CE credit types

• AMA PRA Category 1 Credit — commonly used by physicians in the United States.
• AAFP Prescribed Credit — commonly used in family medicine.
• ANCC contact hours — nursing continuing education.
• ACPE credit — pharmacy continuing education.
• CEU — continuing education unit.
• CNE — continuing nursing education.
• CPE — continuing pharmacy education.
• MOC — maintenance of certification credit for specialty boards.
• CDE/CDR credits — may apply to dietitians or diabetes educators depending on activity.

See also

• Continuing medical education
• Medical education
• Grand rounds
• Public health
• Evidence-based medicine
• Clinical practice guideline
• Preventive medicine
• Professional development
• Telemedicine
• Medical conference

External links

• CDC Continuing Education
• CDC TRAIN
• CDC Learning Connection
• NIH VideoCast
• NIH Clinical Center Grand Rounds
• Mayo Clinic Continuing Professional Development
• Medscape Education
• AMA Ed Hub
• UCSF Department of Medicine Grand Rounds
• AAFP CME
• American College of Cardiology Education
• American Heart Association Professional Education
• American College of Surgeons Education
• American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Education
• American College of Rheumatology Education
• American Urological Association Education
• American Dental Association Continuing Education

References

"Types of Continuing Education for Health Professionals"

Medical education in the United States

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