Continuing Professional Education

PURPOSE: This rule details the board’s minimum requirements for continuing professional education. (1) Each renewal period the licensee must be able to provide proof of current certification by the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (ABCP) or its successor or provide proof of the following: (A) Documentation of a minimum of fifteen (15) ABCP approved continuing professional education units (CEU) each calendar year. Five (5) of the fifteen (15) CEUs must be ABCP Category 1; and (B) Documentation of performing forty (40) cases each calendar year as primary perfusionist for cardiopulmonary bypass, ECMO, VAD, Isolated Limb Perfusion, or VENO-VENO bypass. Fifteen (15) of the forty (40) cases may be documentable intraoperative pump standbys. (2) Licensees are not required to complete any continuing professional education requirements in the calendar year in which the licensee is initially licensed to practice perfusion in Missouri if the licensee has not previously held a license to practice as a clinical perfusionist in Missouri or any other jurisdiction. The period for completion of the continuing professional education requirements shall be the twelve (12)-month period beginning January 1 and ending December 31 of each renewal period. A licensee who has failed to obtain and report, in a timely fashion their continuing professional education shall not engage in the practice of perfusion unless an extension is obtained pursuant to section (5) of this rule. (3) Each licensee shall certify by signature, under penalty of perjury, that s/he has completed the required units of continuing professional education on the renewal form. (4) Each licensee shall retain records documenting completion of the continuing professional education requirements for a minimum of three (3) years after the reporting period in which the continuing professional education was completed. The board may conduct an audit of licensees to verify compliance with the continuing professional education requirement. Licensees shall assist the board in its audit by providing timely and complete responses to the board’s inquiries. (5) A licensee who cannot complete the continuing professional education requirements because of personal illness, military service or other circumstances beyond the licensee’s control which the board deems to be sufficient to impose an insurmountable hardship may apply for an extension of time to complete the continuing professional education requirements. Any extension of time to complete the continuing professional education requirements will be granted solely in the discretion of the board. The licensee must make a written application for extension of time prior to the December 31 deadline for completion of the continuing professional education requirement. A processing fee of twenty dollars ($20) shall accompany the application for extension. The licensee shall provide full and complete written documentation of the grounds supporting the reasons for which an extension is sought. A licensee who requests an extension of time to complete the continuing professional education requirements shall not engage in the active practice of perfusion unless the board grants the licensee’s request for extension and the licensee receives express written authorization to engage in the active practice of perfusion. (A) Military service extensions may be granted only to a licensee who was absent from the United States for at least a majority of the reporting period due to his/her military service commitment under combat circumstances or pursuant to a state of national emergency. At a minimum, the licensee must submit written documentation from the appropriate military authorities verifying the licensee’s military service commitment and the periods during which the commitment was being fulfilled under a combat or national emergency status, the number of units earned during the reporting period and a plan for the completion of the balance of the requirement. (B) Illness extensions may be granted only to a licensee who has suffered a personal illness or personal disability of a nature as to prevent him/her from engaging in the active practice of perfusion for at least a majority of the reporting period. At a minimum, the licensee shall provide the board with written documentation from the licensee’s treating physician stating the nature of the illness or disability, the period of the illness or disability, any limitations on the licensee’s activities which resulted from the illness or disability, the number of units earned in the reporting year and a plan for completing the balance of the requirement. (C) The board, solely in its discretion, may grant an extension based on unforeseeable circumstances beyond the licensee’s control which impose an insurmountable hardship precluding the licensee from obtaining the required continuing professional education. At a minimum, the licensee must provide written documentation explaining specifically and in detail the nature of the circumstances, why the circumstances were unforeseeable and beyond the licensee’s control, the period during which the circumstances were in existence, the number of continuing professional education units earned in the reporting period and the licensee’s plan for completing the balance of the requirements. The board, in its discretion, shall determine if the situation described in the licensee’s application constitutes unforeseeable circumstances beyond the licensee’s control which impose an unsurmountable hardship precluding the licensee from obtaining the required continuing professional education. (D) A licensee who is granted an extension of time shall complete the balance of his/her continuing professional education requirements no later than June 30 immediately following the end of the reporting period for which an extension was sought and shall provide the board with written documentation of his/her completion of the continuing professional education requirements no later than July 10 immediately following the end of the reporting period for which an extension was sought. Failure to complete the continuing professional education requirements by June 30 or to file the documentation with the board by July 10 shall constitute a violation of section 324.159, RSMo and this rule. (6) Violation of any provision of this rule shall be deemed by the board to constitute misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, unethical conduct or unprofessional conduct in the performance of the functions or duties of a perfusionist depending on the licensee’s conduct. In addition, a licensee who has failed to complete and report in a timely fashion the required units of continuing professional education and engages in the active practice of perfusion without the express written authority of the board shall be deemed to have engaged in the unauthorized practice of perfusion. AUTHORITY: sections 324.144, 324.159 and 324.183, RSMo 2000.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 150-8.140. Original rule filed Dec. 2, 1998, effective June 30, 1999. Amended: Filed Dec. 9, 2002, effective June 30, 2003. Moved to 20 CSR 2150-8.140, effective Aug. 28, 2006. *Original authority: 324.144, RSMo 1997; 324.159, RSMo 1997; and 324.183, RSMo 1997.