Updated June 2026 · 9 min read

CRNA Recertification: The MAC Program

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Passing the board exam earns the CRNA credential, but keeping it is a career-long commitment. As of August 1, 2025, the way nurse anesthetists recertify changed: the NBCRNA's Maintaining Anesthesia Certification (MAC) program officially replaced the former Continued Professional Certification (CPC) program as the sole recertification pathway. If you trained under CPC rules — or are about to graduate — here's what the new system actually requires.

The cycle structure

What changed from CPC

The bones of the program are familiar: CRNAs still recertify on an 8-year cycle divided into two 4-year periods, and still earn 100 continuing-education credits per period. What changed is the structure around those credits.

First, the terminology. Class A credits — the assessed continuing education that sharpens clinical knowledge — are now branded MAC Ed. Class B credits — the flexible professional-development activities that broaden your understanding of practice, patient safety, and the healthcare environment — are now MAC Dev. The 60/40 split per four-year cycle carries over unchanged.

Second, and more substantively, the four Core Modules are gone. Under CPC, CRNAs had to complete required modules in airway, applied clinical pharmacology, human physiology and pathophysiology, and anesthesia equipment and technology. MAC removes that requirement.

Goodbye CPC Assessment, hello quarterly knowledge checks

The most visible change is how knowledge is tested. The old CPC Assessment (CPCA) was a single 150-question exam taken once every eight years — not pass/fail, but a high-stakes, sit-down event many CRNAs dreaded.

MAC replaces that one big test with a longitudinal assessment: quarterly knowledge checks delivered over 13 quarters. Each check serves questions, gives immediate feedback and explanations, and tracks your performance over time. You can complete them on a phone or a desktop, fitting them around a working schedule rather than blocking out a day for a proctored exam.

What happens if you miss a performance standard

The assessment is not designed to strip your credential for a weak quarter. As with the prior system, if your performance falls below the standard in a given knowledge area, your certification isn't revoked — instead, you're directed to complete additional targeted continuing education (at minimum one MAC Ed credit) in that specific area. The point is remediation and continued learning, not punishment.

Who this affects and when

MAC became the sole recertification pathway on August 1, 2025, and the NBCRNA plans to have all CRNAs enrolled in the program by 2026. If you're a current CRNA, your existing cycle dates carry over; you simply complete your remaining requirements under the MAC framework and new terminology. If you're a student or new graduate, MAC is the only recertification system you'll ever know — there's no CPC to learn.

Bottom line

CRNA recertification still runs on an 8-year, two-period cycle with 100 credits per four years — but under the MAC program that took over in August 2025, Class A and B credits became MAC Ed and MAC Dev, the four Core Modules disappeared, and the single CPC Assessment gave way to quarterly knowledge checks with instant feedback. For working nurse anesthetists, the new system is more continuous, more flexible, and less reliant on one high-stakes exam.