American Medical Directors Certification Program (AMDCP) Certification Requirements

How Do I Become an AMDA Certified Medical Director (CMD) in Long Term Care?

Step One: Eligibility

• Completion of a U.S. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA) accredited post-graduate training program, or a Canadian Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons or College of Family Physicians accredited post-graduate training program; or completion of relevant U.S. post-graduate training and successful attainment of U.S. state licensure to practice medicine;
• Hold a current, unrestricted, state license as an medical doctor (MD) or doctor of osteopathy (DO) in the U.S. or an equivalent license to practice medicine in Canada; and,
• Spend a minimum of 8 hours each month in service as a medical director in a long term care setting.

Step Two: Education and Experience in Clinical Medicine

	OPTION 1	OPTION 2	OPTION 3 For use by candidates not certified by ABMS or ABO
A	Hold American Board of Medical Specialities (ABMS) Certification in a primary specialty	Hold ABMS Certification in a primary specialty	Completion of an ACGME or AOA or equivalent accredited PGY 1-3 program
B	Completion of an ACGME or AOA accredited fellowship in geriatric or other relevant clinical program (e.g. pediatric, psychiatric, MR/DD) within the past five (5) years -OR- ABMS certificate of added qualification (CAQ) in Geriatric Medicine of other equivalent certification (e.g., hospice, home care)	Sixty (60) hours of AMA PRA category 1TM education in clinical medicine relating to long term care in the preceding three (3) years	Seventy-five (75) hours of AMA PRA category 1TM education in clinical medicine relating to long term care in the preceding three (3) years
C	Two (2) years of clinical practice in long term care	Three (3) years of clinical practice in long term care	Four (4) years of clinical practice in long term care

Step Three: Education and Experience in Medical Direction/Medical Management

• If you complete Option 1 of the clinical education requirement with a CAQ, complete Option 2 for medical management.
• If you complete Option 3 of the clinical education requirement, you may use Option 2 to complete the medical management requirement.
• Academicians who use Option 1 or 2 to complete the clinical education requirement may choose to complete Option 3 of the medical management requirement to earn credit hours for teaching, presenting at chapter or national programs, or for publications.

	OPTION 1	OPTION 2	OPTION 3
A	Completion of a fellowship in geriatric medicine within the past five (5) years	Completion of AMDA Core Curriculum on Medical Direction or its equivalent on long term care management within five (5) years of application (46 hours)	Completion of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) in long term care medical management equivalent to seventy-five (75) contact hours within five (5) years of application. A written plan for the IEP must be submitted and approved by the AMDCP Board of Directors prior to completion of the program and submission of the application.
B	Completion of AMDA Core Curriculum on Medical Direction within five (5) years of application	Completion of an additional 14 hours of approved CMD courses within five (5) years of application	Completion of the AMDA Core Curriculum on Medical Direction or its equivalent on long term care management plus 30 additional hours within five (5) years of application.
C	Two (2) consecutive years of service as a medical director in a long term care facility/setting (service must be from the 2-years immediately preceding application submission)	Three (3) consecutive years of service as a medical director in a long term care facility/setting (service must be from the 3-years immediately preceding application submission)	Four (4) consecutive years of service as a medical director in a long term care facility/setting. (service must be from the 4-years immediately preceding application submission)

If you do not think that you qualify under the requirements listed above, please call Alicia Willey, AMDCP Administrator, for a consultation: 410-992-3117.

Application Steps

1. Complete the application form.
2. Submit the application form with required documentation and the appropriate fee by April 1 or October 1.
3. If you wish to have immediate notification of receipt of your application, send the forms by Federal Express, UPS, or other courier that provides confirmation.
4. Staff will review the application and send a letter of notification that:
   1. Your application is complete for review at the next scheduled application review meeting. OR
   2. Your application requires additional documentation/information with a due date that will take the date of the next scheduled application review meeting into consideration.
5. Application review meetings are held in June and December of each year.
6. Candidates will receive notification of their status by mail about four weeks after the application review meeting.

Application Fees

Fees must accompany the application and are non-refundable.

Follow this link to courses offering CMD Credits.