Developed for osteopathic physicians licensed by State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine across the United States. Our courses address clinical competence, ethical conduct, professionalism and fitness to practice, and carry 2 CME credits each. Written by healthcare professionals who understand US state-board regulation.
In the US, osteopathic physicians are licensed and disciplined by State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine under each state's practice act — there is no single national regulator. Boards set license requirements, scopes of practice and standards of conduct.
Aligned with State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine standards and national codes of ethics. Helping osteopathic physicians facing a complaint, investigation or disciplinary matter, and for CME / license renewal.
We'll recommend the courses you need based on your situation
Browse the full catalogue, or use the investigation selector above to match courses to your situation.
Covers ethical obligations including duties to report concerns, maintain honesty, and uphold probity in all professional dealings — central to State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine expectations.
Covers professional standards and behavior expected by State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine — conduct, communication, teamwork, and maintaining public trust.
Strengthen multidisciplinary teamwork — communication, handover protocols, hierarchy management, and safe team environments.
Explores the professional ethics landscape — ethical obligations, standards of practice, and the expectations of state licensing boards.
Comprehensive course on medical ethics principles — ethical frameworks, moral reasoning, and professional decision-making.
Covers the duty of candor — being open and honest with patients and families when something goes wrong in their care.
Understand confidentiality and HIPAA obligations — data protection, justified disclosure, and information sharing.
Training on valid informed consent, patient privacy, capacity assessment, and chaperone use in clinical practice.
Communication skills that prevent complaints — breaking bad news, shared decision-making, and conflict resolution.
Create clear, legally defensible records that meet board and payer standards — electronic records, amendments, and common errors.
Navigate social media risks — online conduct, digital confidentiality (HIPAA), and protecting your professional reputation.
Maintain and demonstrate clinical competence — patient safety, risk management, and quality improvement.
Ethical and professional standards for safe prescribing — regulations, controlled substances, opioid stewardship, and protocols.
What probity means in practice — honesty, financial integrity, transparency, and managing conflicts of interest.
Navigate financial ethics — conflicts of interest, industry relationships, billing integrity, and gift policies.
Practical guidance on rebuilding professional trust after an incident — with patients, the public, and your state board.
Essential course for board proceedings — complaints, investigation, hearings, insight, remediation, and outcomes.
Build professional insight — recognizing limitations, understanding impact, and meeting board expectations during proceedings.
Guidance on effective remediation — action plans, evidencing change, and demonstrating concerns are addressed.
Develop meaningful reflective practice — reflective accounts, structured frameworks, and board expectations.
Demonstrate that past issues will not be repeated — root cause analysis, practice changes, and sustained improvement.
Guidance on managing complaints professionally — the investigation process, response letters, lessons learned, and resilience.
Covers the boundary spectrum, dual relationships, warning signs of drift, sexual boundary violations, and maintaining trust.
Maintaining ethical boundaries in clinical relationships — patient interactions, colleague dynamics, and power imbalances.
Our online ethics and professionalism courses are written for osteopathic physicians (DOs) licensed by state medical and osteopathic boards across the United States, mapped to the AOA Code of Ethics and the practice-act standards boards enforce. They suit routine CME and Osteopathic Continuous Certification (OCC) as well as DOs responding to a board complaint. Browse the full range of United States healthcare ethics courses or use the selector above to match courses to your situation.
If you are facing a board complaint, investigation or disciplinary matter as an osteopathic physician (DO) in the United States, or simply want to strengthen your CME record, our courses are designed to help you demonstrate insight, remediation and a commitment to professional standards — the qualities State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine look for when assessing your response to a concern.
DOs hold full medical and surgical licenses and maintain them through ongoing continuing medical education (CME), with certification renewed through Osteopathic Continuous Certification. A growing number of state boards require dedicated CME in medical ethics, professionalism or opioid prescribing for renewal. Our Medical Ethics Course and Professional Ethics Course address ethical principles and professional conduct, while Prescribing Guidance and Standards covers the controlled-substance responsibilities that feature in many state requirements.
A complaint about a DO is filed with the relevant state medical or osteopathic board, which can investigate and, where concerns are substantiated, take action ranging from a confidential consent order to probation, suspension or license revocation — with serious actions reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). Our Dealing with a Complaint or Investigation Professionally course explains how the process works, and you can select your investigation type to see the courses most relevant to your situation. Colleagues in allopathic practice can review our parallel ethics courses for doctors (MDs).
When a board reviews a concern, it looks for genuine insight, meaningful remediation and honest reflection. Courses on Insight for Fitness to Practise, Remediation for Fitness to Practise and Reflection for Fitness to Practise help you understand what boards expect and produce a downloadable certificate you can submit with your response or remediation plan.
The catalogue covers the issues most often seen in osteopathic complaints: informed consent (including consent for osteopathic manipulative treatment), accurate documentation, patient confidentiality under HIPAA, professional boundaries, prescribing and controlled-substance stewardship, and financial integrity.
The same ethical foundations apply across regulated health professions, which is why many DOs also enrol staff through our courses for all healthcare professionals and review our ethics courses for nurses & midwives.
Recurring triggers include inappropriate or excessive prescribing, professional boundary issues, inadequate documentation, informed-consent failures, and practising outside an agreed scope. Each course examines these through realistic, case-based scenarios so you can recognise risk before it becomes a board matter — and respond constructively if it already has.
Every course is fully online and self-paced, so you can complete it around clinical and on-call commitments, on any device, with no fixed start date. On finishing each course you can download a certificate of completion for your CME, OCC, license-renewal or board records. Each course is USD$99 and carries 2 CME credits.
In the United States, osteopathic physicians are licensed and disciplined at state level by State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine under each state's practice act — there is no single national regulator. To practice you must hold an active state license and stay within its scope, and State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine expect you to maintain standards of clinical competence, ethical conduct and professionalism throughout your career. Every course on this page is built around those expectations and the AOA Code of Ethics and your State Board of Osteopathic Medicine's regulations, so the learning maps onto what licensing boards and employers look for.
Beyond technical skill in diagnosis, treatment, prescribing and osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT), State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine expect safe, ethical and culturally responsive care for a diverse patient population — clear communication, valid informed consent, accurate records, protection of patient information under HIPAA, and honesty when something goes wrong.
These standards are maintained through ongoing continuing medical education (CME) and Osteopathic Continuous Certification (OCC) and periodic license renewal, not a one-time exercise.
Most concerns raised about osteopathic physicians are not about clinical knowledge alone — they center on ethics, communication and professionalism. Recurring themes include:
Understanding where these risks arise, and being able to show you have addressed them, is exactly what these courses build.
A complaint about a practitioner is usually filed with the relevant State Board, which can investigate and, where concerns are substantiated, take action ranging from a confidential advisory or consent order to probation, suspension or license revocation. Serious actions are reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). At every stage, boards look for the same things: genuine insight into what happened, meaningful remediation, honest reflection, and credible assurance the issue will not be repeated. The fitness-to-practice, insight, remediation and reflection courses on this page address each of these in turn.
These courses suit osteopathic physicians preparing for or responding to a board investigation, rebuilding trust after a disciplinary matter, returning to practice after time away, supervising or mentoring colleagues, or simply wanting well-evidenced continuing education. Each course is online, self-paced, USD$99 and carries 2 CME credits, with a certificate of completion for your records.
Courses written by healthcare professionals, aligned with State Boards of Osteopathic Medicine standards for osteopathic physicians in the United States.
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Proud Member of the American Accreditation Association
Healthcare Ethics Courses is a proud organisational member of the American Accreditation Association — a mark of our ongoing commitment to quality, integrity and professional standards in everything we produce for U.S. healthcare professionals.
Our organisational membership reflects our commitment to quality; individual courses are aligned with state board standards and national codes of ethics rather than independently accredited.
