Commercial Driver Medical Examiner Online Course 2023

Natalie P. Hartenbaum, MD, MPH, FACOEM
Course Director

Presented by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the Commercial Driver Medical Examiner Online Course meets the requirements for initial training for the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME).

As of September 2022, this Commercial Driver Medical Certification (CDME) course meets the requirements for initial and complete re -training (10 year) for the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME).

This course does not meet the Periodic Training requirement which is required 5 years after initial certification (or delayed as in 2022). The Periodic Training is only offered through FMCSA with details found through your NRCME page.

We’ve updated the entire course but as we suspect significant changes will be required once the ME Handbook has been finalized, we have provided addendums to each module. Please review the addendums carefully as they will point out significant changes. Resources and links to source material will be provided.

With permission from FMCSA, the Periodic Training material is included for review.

This training course conforms the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) training curriculum modules and topics for the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME) on regulations and guidelines for conducting Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) driver medical examinations.

The expectation is that course participants have already mastered physical examination, diagnosis, and treatment skills during their health care training and the emphasis will be applying issues specific to the commercial driver.

Please be aware the revised Medical Examiner Handbook has been released. This course is still compliant with the FMCSA initial and 10-year retraining requirement. hile this course is in the process of being updated, it is recommended that participant review both the 5-year Periodic Training Resource version available here and the new ME Handbook available.

The most important difference is that for most conditions, aside from those requiring and exemption or covered under an alternative standard, FMCSA has set few, required (or even suggested) waiting periods, duration of certification or specific criteria for meeting testing requirements (EF, A1c, grip strength, etc)

Expected Time Allotment:

Pre-Reading Material: 8-10 hours
Recorded Video Modules: 8 hours
Post-Reading Material: 2-3 hours

There are nine modules in this training program. Each Module include four sections; Pre-read, Course Material, Post-read and Supplemental Resources which will cover the FMCSA Core Curriculum noted below. The first three are primarily derived from the ME Handbook and other FMCSA issued guidance and may be on the examination. The fourth, Supplemental Resources includes documentation from Medical Expert Panels, Medical Review Board and other recent medical literature. This should be considered in evaluation of commercial drivers but has not been endorsed by FMCSA and not is considered “official” FMCSA guidance. Module 1 should be completed first and Module 9 last and aside from module 5 and 6 being done sequentially, the others can be done in any order.

This bundle includes all the Commercial Driver Medical Examiner modules and the CME/MOC Component:

Module 0: Introduction
Module 1: Overview
Module 2: Vision, Hearing, Diabetes Mellitus
Module 3: Cardiovascular, Hypertension
Module 4: Respiratory
Module 5: Musculoskeletal (includes Neuromuscular Conditions), Renal and Other Diseases
Module 6: Neurological (see Module 5 - Musculoskeletal for Neuromuscular Conditions)
Module 7: Psychological
Module 8: Drug Abuse & Alcoholism
Module 9: Case Discussion and Review
CDME CME/MOC Component
Evaluation and Certificate

Original Posting Date: 12/01/2022
Termination Date: 11/30/2025

As a provider accredited by the ACCME, ACOEM is responsible for ensuring our education is fair and balanced and that any clinical content presented supports safe, effective patient care. As such, ACOEM must include an original release date and a termination (expiration) date on products. Content must either be reviewed once every three years or expire after three years, which is why courses have an expiration date. This date not only denotes when the course will no longer be available to new users but also includes the final date to claim AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. While there is a possibility that a course will be renewed for an additional three years – and a new expiration date posted – this will not be determined until a review is conducted.

A course that has already been purchased but exceeds the expiration date can still be completed and/or reviewed, but a learner may no longer be able to claim the AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ associated with the course.

If you have questions, please contact educationinfo@acoem.org.

Complete CDME Module 0 through Module 9.
Pass the 23-question post-test with a score of 80% or higher (3 attempts)
To claim CME credit, click the "Claim Your CME Credit" link, then click "Claim Credit."
To claim ABPM MOC credit, submit the MOC request form.

Natalie P. Hartenbaum, MD, MPH, FACOEM – Course Director and Faculty– President and Chief Medical Officer of OccuMedix, Inc, Dresher, Pennsylvania through which she serves as Medical Director/Advisor for multiple corporations of various size, also Adjunct Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Medical Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. She is editor of The DOT Medical Examination: A Guide to Commercial Driver Medical Certification; now in its sixth edition as well as Editor-in-Chief of CDME (Commercial Driver Medical Review) Update, a quarterly newsletter published by ACOEM on issues of commercial driver medical certification. Dr. Hartenbaum has lectured and written extensively on issues of fitness for duty with a concentration in the transportation industry. She has testified for the National Transportation Safety Board at hearings exploring commercial driver medical certification issues and has served on committees and Medical Expert Panels for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Dr. Hartenbaum has extensive experience in both the corporate and clinical setting and is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine. She served 6 years on the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine’s Board of Directors, then as Secretary-Treasurer, Vice-President, President-Elect, and President (2010-2011) and is a past Director of the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

Eric Wood, MD, MPH - Residency Program Director at the University of Utah Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. Dr. Wood's current responsibilities include research, teaching, administration and patient care. He is board certified in both Occupational Medicine and Family Medicine. Prior to becoming a physician, he worked as a professional Industrial Hygienist for OSHA and in private consulting. Dr. Wood was the inaugural recipient of the ACOEM/U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Medical Fellow Research Program. He is actively engaged in research on musculoskeletal disorders and health/wellness and safety concerns in commercial drivers.

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 8.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The activity is available on-demand, and those who register will receive access automatically. Please be sure that this is the course you wish to purchase as refunds are not permitted after the transaction is complete. Once the purchase has been completed you will be granted access to the online/on-demand activity. If this purchase was made in error, do not access the course. Refund requests must be received in writing within 24 hours of the purchase to educationinfo@acoem.org. Refunds will be issued for duplicate purchases if no progress has been made in the course and will be issued minus an administrative fee of $100.00. Refunds will not be provided for courses that have been accessed and/or started.