Numerous healthcare organizations offer continuous medical education (CME), including online courses and webinars, on a wide variety of medical topics.

In a previous article, I compiled CME platforms from top universities, including most Ivy League schools. But the online CME offering is vast and goes beyond academia.

So in this Class Central article, I’ve compiled CME platforms from renowned medical institutions, including:

• Clinics, such as the Cleveland Clinic
• Medical Centers, such as the MD Anderson
• Hospitals, such as the NYU Langone
• Specialized Organizations, such as the NACE.

I’ve tested the platforms one by one, collected a few certificates along the way, which I’ve included below. Combined, these platforms offer over 800 CME resources, many of them free.

The medical field is steadily evolving, with new discoveries and improved treatments constantly being approved.  Many courses have closing dates, after which certificates and CMEs are not awarded even if the course materials are still available. We recommend checking the dates before starting a course.

If you know more similar platforms, please share them in the comments. We’ll continue to update this list.

(Written by Manoel with latest updates by Pat.)

CME Platforms

• Medscape
• MD Anderson
• Cleveland Clinic
• NYU Langone Hospital
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• NACE
• Med-IQ
• Mayo Clinic

Medscape

Medscape is a specialized online platform that offers a very large number of short text-based CME activities. I’ve counted over 500 free activities, most of them taking less than 1 hour to complete.

Here are some of the free CME resources offered by Medscape:

• Shifting the Paradigm:​ Rationale Behind Long-Acting Injectables in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
• Deaths From Excessive Alcohol Use – United States, 2016-2021
• Beyond the Glucose Level: What Is Missing?
• Call to Action: Additional Screening of Patients With Difficult-to-Control T2D and Other Metabolic Abnormalities
• Revolutionizing Primary Biliary Cholangitis Care: A Paradigm Change on the Horizon
• Medscape Now! Special Edition: Hot Topics in Pain Management July 2024

You can find Medscape’s entire CME catalog here.

MD Anderson Cancer Center

MD Anderson medical center, which specializes in cancer, organizes live events and offers 12 on-demand CME online courses and webinars on the various facets of cancer research and treatment.

Here are some of the free CME resources offered by MD Anderson:

• First Do No Harm – Establishing an Opioid Stewardship Program for Patients with Cancer Pain and Nonmedical Opioid Use
• Breast Cancer Survivorship
• Prostate Cancer Survivorship
• Colorectal Cancer Survivorship
• Ransomed Life: Human Trafficking Training for Healthcare Professionals

You can find MD Anderson’s entire CME catalog here.

Cleveland Clinic

The Cleveland Clinic offers close to 150 CME resources, including text-based mini-courses, webcasts, and journal-based activities on a wide variety of medical topics.

Here are some of the free CME resources offered by the Cleveland Clinic:

• Lupus
• Delirium
• Heart Failure
• Crohn’s Disease
• Tobacco Use Disorder

You can find the Cleveland Clinic’s entire CME catalog here.

NYU Langone Hospital

The NYU Langone Hospital in New York organizes live CME activities and offers some enduring materials, including multiple-part courses.

Here is the free course on unexplained pediatrics deaths offered by the NYU Langone Hospital:

• Unexplained Pediatric Deaths
• Physicians, Nurses, & Social Workers
• Death Investigators & First Responders
• Medical Examiner & Autopsies
• Pediatricians & Clinical Care Providers

You can find NYU Langone’s entire CME catalog here.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center offers around 30 CME resources, including live courses, on-demand courses, as well as grand rounds discussing patient cases.

Here are some free courses offered by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center:

• Cedars-Sinai 2024 Unconscious Bias Education for Employees
• Perinatal Mental Health 101: What To Know
• Perinatal Mental Health 201: How To Help
• Preventing Discrimination and Harassment (for Managers and Medical Staff)

You can find Cedars-Sinai’s entire CME catalog here.

National Association for Continuing Education (NACE)

The National Association for Continuing Education (NACE) offers nearly 100 CME resources, ranging from podcasts to webcasts.

Here are some of the free CME resources offered by NACE:

• The Big Itch – Rapid Fire Cases: Ask The Experts
• A Better Understanding: Advances in Severe Asthma
• Non-Statin Lipid Management – It’s All About Risk
• Stressed, Moody or Hormonal?

You can find NACE’s entire CME catalog here.

Med-IQ

Med-IQ is an online platform that specializes in medical online courses, with an emphasis on clinical education and risk management education. Currently, Med-IQ’s catalog has nearly 20 CME resources.

Here are some of the free CME resources offered by Med-IQ:

• It Takes a Village of Clinicians: Improving Lung Cancer Screening Uptake and Adherence
• Overview of Managing Unruptured Aneurysms
• Awake Spine Surgery
• Navigating an Advanced Heart Failure Case: Strategies for Cardiologists

You can find Med-IQ’s entire CME catalog here.

Mayo Clinic

The Mayo Clinic offers more than 500 continuing medical education (CME) resources, including live events, online courses, webinars, and podcasts. Some are for Mayo personnel only. Although we have found free courses and CME credit in the past, in 2024, the prices we found started at $10 for a single webinar or Grand Rounds lecture, up to hundreds of dollars for full courses, including a certificate and CME credit. We will continue to check if free courses re-appear in the future.

You can find the Mayo Clinic’s entire CME catalog here.

More Free Certificates

If you don’t find what you need in the course lists above, browse Class Central’s catalog of over 200K courses or visit our thematic collections:

• Massive List of Thousands of Free Certificates & Badges
• Stanford Medicine Offers Courses with Free Certificate & CME Credit
• 1000+ Courses from Top Med Schools with Free Certificate & CME Credit
• 600 Free Google Certifications
• 1000 Open University Free Certificates
• 70+ FutureLearn Courses with Free Certificates

You can find all the Class Central free certificate articles here.