Continuing Education

All persons licensed as a P.A. must comply with the following continuing education rules as a prerequisite to licensure renewal. (1) Continuing Education - Hours Required (a) All physician assistants must, within a two (2) year period prior to the application for license renewal, complete one hundred (100) hours of continuing medical education satisfactory to the Committee. At least fifty (50) hours shall be obtained in certified medical education Category I and at least two (2) Category I hours of the required continuing education hours shall address education related to controlled substance prescribing, which must include instruction in the Department’s treatment guidelines on opioids, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and carisoprodol and may include topics such GENERAL RULES GOVERNING THE PRACTICE CHAPTER 1130-01 OF A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT as medicine addiction, risk management tools, and other topics approved by the Committee. (b) The Committee approves a course for only the number of hours contained in the course. The approved hours of any individual course will not be counted more than once in a calendar year toward the required hourly total regardless of the number of times the course is attended or completed by any individual. (c) The committee may waive or otherwise modify the requirements of this rule in cases where there is retirement or an illness, disability or other undue hardship which prevents a physician assistant from obtaining the requisite number of continuing education hours required for renewal. Requests for waivers or modification must be sent in writing to the Committee prior to the expiration of the renewal period in which the continuing education is due. (2) Continuing Education - Proof of Compliance (a) All physician assistants must indicate, by their signature on the license renewal form, that they have completed the required number of continuing medical education hours, during whichever of the following two (2) year periods applies to the applicant: 1. For those certified by the N.C.C.P.A.; the most recent two (2) year period (depending upon the year of initial certification of the applicant by the N.C.C.P.A.) utilized by N.C.C.P.A. to determine whether that person has obtained sufficient continuing medical education hours to maintain his or her professional certification. 2. For those not certified by the N.C.C.P.A.; the most recent two (2) year period (depending upon the year of birth of the licensee rather than the year of initial certification by the N.C.C.P.A.), which if utilized by the N.C.C.P.A. would determine whether that person would have (had he or she been nationally certified) obtained sufficient continuing medical education hours to maintain his or her professional certification. (b) All physician assistants must retain independent documentation of completion of all continuing education hours. This documentation must be retained for a period of four (4) years from the end of the renewal period in which the continuing education was acquired. This documentation must be produced for inspection and verification, if requested in writing by the Committee during its verification process. 1. Certificates verifying the licensed individual’s completion of the continuing education program(s) consist of any one or more of the following: (i) The National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants’ “Continuing Medical Education Logging Certificate”; (ii) Certificates must include the following: Continuing education program’s sponsor, date, length in minutes awarded (continuing education units must be converted to clock hours), program title, licensed individual’s name, license number and social security number. (iii) An original letter on official stationery from the continuing education program’s sponsor indicating date, length in minutes awarded (continuing education units must be converted to clock hours), program title, licensed individual’s name, license number and social security number. GENERAL RULES GOVERNING THE PRACTICE CHAPTER 1130-01 OF A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT (c) If a person submits documentation for training that is not clearly identifiable as appropriate continuing education, the Committee will request a written description of the training and how it applies to the practice as a physician assistant. If the Committee determines that the training cannot be considered appropriate continuing education, the individual will be given 90 days to replace the hours not allowed. Those hours will be considered replacement hours and cannot be counted during the next renewal period. (3) Acceptable continuing education - To be utilized for satisfaction of the continuing education requirements of this rule, the continuing education program must be approved in content, structure and format by the A.M.A., the A.A.P.A., or the N.C.C.P.A. (4) Violations (a) Any physician assistant who falsely attests to completion of the required hours of continuing education may be subject to disciplinary action pursuant to Rule 1130-01- .15. (b) Any physician assistant who fails to obtain the required continuing education hours may be subject to disciplinary action pursuant to Rule 1130-01-.15 and may not be allowed to renew licensure. (c) Education hours obtained as a result of compliance with the terms of a Committee or Board order in any disciplinary action shall not be credited toward the continuing education hours required to be obtained in any renewal period.