New Mexico Physical Therapy CE Requirements (2026): 30 Hours Every 2 Years
Requirements Overview
Continuing education for physical therapists (PTs) and physical therapist assistants (PTAs) in New Mexico is set by 16.20.8 NMAC, administered by the New Mexico Physical Therapy Board. Licenses renew on a biennial cycle running February 1 through January 31, and licensees who have renewed before must log 30 contact hours in that window.
There's no mandated topic split -- hours can come from live courses, college coursework, home study, internet courses, journal reading, research, or clinical supervision, several capped individually per cycle. APTA-sponsored courses are automatically accepted.
A licensee's very first renewal requires zero CE hours; every renewal after that owes the full 30, with no carry-over of excess hours into the next cycle. The board audits a sample of renewals annually and non-audited licensees sign an affidavit.
First Renewal vs. Standard Renewal
Exemptions
- Military Service — A physical therapist or physical therapist assistant called to active duty in the armed forces reserves or the New Mexico National Guard will not have their license lapse for failure to earn the required continuing education contact hours during that period of active duty.The licensee must provide official documentation of membership in the armed forces reserves/National Guard and of the call to active duty.Upon return to civilian status, the licensee must pay the license renewal fee and resume earning continuing education hours, prorated according to months of service, to maintain licensure (16.20.8.9(C) NMAC).
How You Can Complete Your CE
New Mexico CE Rules & Limits
Details specific to New Mexico that generic CE guides tend to miss:
- New Mexico uses direct 'contact hours' (one contact hour = 60 minutes, per 16.20.8.7(A) NMAC), not a CCU/point system, so no unit conversion is needed for total hours.
- The 30-hour requirement has no mandated topic-by-topic sub-allocation. It is met by accumulating hours from any of 16 board-recognized activity categories under 16.20.8.12(D) NMAC, several of which carry their own biennial caps: management courses (15 hrs), presenting a workshop/in-service (15 hrs), reading journal articles (15 hrs), clinical student supervision (15 hrs, at 1 hr per 40 hrs of supervision), and legislative-update presentations (8 hrs biennial / 4 hrs annual). Home study, internet courses, live programs, college courses, in-service programs, research, certificate courses, and residency/fellowship/exam credit are each capped at 30 hours biennially (i.e., effectively uncapped relative to the full requirement). The APTA code-of-ethics/standards-of-conduct course category has no stated hour cap.
- No carry-over of excess CE hours between renewal cycles is permitted; 16.20.8.10 NMAC and the board's page both state this explicitly and identically ('No carryover hours will be permitted').
- PT and PTA licensees are subject to identical continuing education hour, cycle, and carryover requirements throughout 16.20.8 NMAC; no PT/PTA distinction was found.
- The board audits a percentage of renewal applications annually to verify CE completion; audited licensees must submit proof, while non-audited licensees sign an affidavit attesting completion and must retain documentation of the immediately preceding cycle's attendance (16.20.8.9(B) NMAC).
- 16.20.8 NMAC (Renewal Requirements and Continuing Education) was repealed and replaced in its current form effective 2/24/2022, per the New Mexico Register, Vol. XXXIII, Issue 2 (January 26, 2022); the codified PDF fetched (title16/16.020.0008.pdf) reflects this current version with no subsequent amendment found.
Provider Requirements
The board or its designee approves continuing education courses; course sponsors may request approval before or after a course (licensees are not required to obtain approval themselves but may request it to confirm a course qualifies). Any program or course sponsored by the APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) or its state chapter NMAPTA is automatically accepted for CEU credit without a separate approval request. The board also publishes a list of specifically approved programs (e.g. Allied Health, Great Lakes Seminars, PESI, APTA Geriatrics, Hanger Clinic, CIAO, Cincinnati Sports Medicine, Flex Therapists, GMP Fitness, IAHE, IAOM, UNM Lend, Maitland) and approved providers (e.g. Great Seminars and Books, Great Seminars Online, MedBridge, Advantage CEUs, Education Resources Inc., Physiopedia Plus, NAIOMT, PhysicalTherapy.com).
Tips for New Mexico PTs
- Track your renewal window by license anniversary, not calendar year -- CE hours only count if earned between February 1 and January 31 of your specific biennial cycle, and hours don't carry over once that window closes.
- Skip CE entirely for your first renewal -- New Mexico exempts brand-new licensees from the 30-hour requirement the first time they renew, so don't pay for courses you don't need yet.
- Favor APTA- or NMAPTA-sponsored courses when possible, since those are automatically accepted for credit without needing separate board approval -- check the board's published lists of approved programs and providers (e.g., MedBridge, Great Seminars and Books, NAIOMT) before enrolling elsewhere.
- Keep your certificates and course documentation on hand even if you're not flagged for audit -- the board only requires an affidavit from non-audited licensees, but it can still request proof retroactively if anything looks off.
- If a license lapses for more than a year, budget for reinstatement CE: the board requires 15 contact hours for every year the license was expired, which adds up fast on a multi-year lapse.
Sources
Each figure on this page is taken directly from the New Mexico Physical Therapy Board's official rules and continuing-education sources and recorded with the exact source excerpt. Last verified Jul 2026. Read how we compile and verify this data.