N.Y. Education Law § 6554-a: Mandatory continuing education for chiropractors

§ 6554-a. Mandatory continuing education for chiropractors. 1. (a)

Each chiropractor licensed pursuant to this article, required to

register triennially with the department to practice in this state,

shall comply with the provisions of the mandatory continuing education

requirements, except as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this

subdivision. Chiropractors who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing

education requirements shall not practice until they have met such

requirements and have been issued a registration or conditional

registration certificate.

(b) Chiropractors shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing

education requirement for the triennial registration period during which

they are first licensed. In accordance with the intent of this section,

adjustments to the mandatory continuing education requirement may be

granted by the department for reasons of health, certified by an

appropriate health care professional, for extended active duty with the

armed forces of the United States, or for other good cause acceptable to

the department which may prevent compliance.

(c) A licensed chiropractor not engaged in chiropractic practice as an

individual practitioner, a partner or a partnership, a shareholder of a

professional service corporation, as an employee of such practice units,

or as an employee of a facility operating pursuant to article

twenty-eight of the public health law, or as otherwise determined by the

department, shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education

requirement upon the filing of a statement with the department declaring

such status. Any licensee who returns to the public practice of

chiropractic during the triennial registration period shall notify the

department prior to reentering the profession and shall meet such

mandatory continuing education requirements as shall be promulgated by

regulation of the commissioner in consultation with the board.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as enabling or

authorizing the department or state board for chiropractic to require or

implement continuing competency testing or continued competency

certification for chiropractors.

2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for

registration shall complete thirty-six hours of acceptable formal

continuing education, a maximum of twelve hours of which may be

self-instructional coursework as approved by the department in

consultation with the board. Any chiropractor whose first registration

date following the effective date of this section occurs less than three

years from such effective date, but on or after January first, two

thousand four, shall complete continuing education hours on a prorated

basis at the rate of one hour per month for the period beginning January

first, two thousand four up to the first registration date thereafter. A

licensee who has not satisfied the mandatory continuing education

requirements shall not be issued a triennial registration certificate by

the department and shall not practice unless and until a conditional

registration certificate is issued as provided in subdivision three of

this section. The individual licensee shall determine the selection of

courses or programs of study pursuant to subdivision four of this

section. Continuing education hours taken during one triennium may not

be carried over or otherwise credited or transferred to a subsequent

triennium.

3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional

registration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education

requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who

agrees to make up any deficiencies and take any additional education

which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional

registration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the

triennial registration. The duration of such conditional registration

shall be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any

licensee who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to

complete the required continued education and who continues to practice

chiropractic without such registration may be subject to disciplinary

proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.

4. As used in this section, "acceptable formal continuing education"

shall mean formal programs of learning which are sponsored or presented

by a New York state chiropractic professional organization, national

chiropractic professional organization or higher educational

institution, and which meet the following requirements: contain subject

matter which contributes to the enhancement of professional and clinical

skills of the chiropractor and is approved as acceptable continuing

education by a chiropractic college recognized by the Commission on

Accreditation of the Council of Chiropractic Education to fulfill the

mandatory continuing education requirements, and which meets the

standards prescribed by regulations of the commissioner in consultation

with the board to fulfill the mandatory continuing education

requirement.

5. Chiropractors shall certify at each triennial registration as to

having satisfied the mandatory continuing education requirements of this

section, shall maintain adequate documentation of completion of

acceptable formal continuing education to support such certification and

shall provide such documentation to the department upon request. Failure

to provide such documentation upon request of the department shall be an

act of misconduct subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to

section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.

6. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars,

shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial

registration period, and shall be in addition to the triennial

registration fee required by section sixty-five hundred fifty-four of

this article.