N.Y. Education Law § 6604-a: Mandatory continuing education for dentists

§ 6604-a. Mandatory continuing education for dentists. 1. (a) Each

dentist, 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.

Dentists 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) Dentists 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 a

physician, 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 dentist not engaged in public practice as an individual

practitioner, a partner of a partnership, a shareholder of a

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

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 dentistry 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 prescribed by regulation of the

commissioner.

2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for

registration shall complete a minimum of sixty hours of acceptable

formal continuing education, a maximum of eighteen hours of which may be

self-instructional coursework as approved by the department. Beginning

with the first registration renewal period for any dentist occurring on

or after January first, two thousand two, and before the occurrence of

the second registration renewal period following that date, a dentist

shall have completed on a one-time basis, as part of the sixty hours of

acceptable formal continuing education required by this section, no

fewer than two hours of coursework and training regarding the chemical

and related effects and usage of tobacco and tobacco products and the

recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of the oral health effects,

including but not limited to cancers and other diseases, caused by

tobacco and tobacco products, provided that any dentist who provides

written proof satisfactory to the department that the dentist has

completed, at any time subsequent to the effective date of this section,

an approved mandatory continuing education course of not less than two

hours in the same or substantially similar subject matter shall be

deemed to have met this requirement, and further provided that dentists

who are exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement for

the triennial registration period during which they are first licensed

shall also be exempt from this requirement for that period. Any dentist

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, nineteen hundred ninety-eight and before July

first, two thousand eight, shall complete continuing education hours on

a prorated basis at the rate of one and one-quarter hours per month for

the period beginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven up to

the first registration date thereafter. For any registration period

beginning before July first, two thousand eight and ending on or after

such date, each dentist shall complete continuing education hours on a

pro rata basis at a rate of one and one-quarter hours per month for the

period ending June thirtieth, two thousand eight and at a rate of one

and two-thirds hours per month for the period beginning July first, two

thousand eight 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.

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. Any licensee who is notified of

the denial of registration for failure to submit evidence, satisfactory

to the department, of completion of required continuing education and

who practices dentistry 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 contribute to professional

practice and which meet the standards prescribed by regulations of the

commissioner. To fulfill the mandatory continuing education requirement,

programs must be taken from sponsors having at least one full-time

employee and the facilities, equipment, and financial and physical

resources to provide continuing education courses, approved by the

department, pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.

5. 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 paid in addition to the triennial

registration fee required by section six thousand six hundred four of

this article.

6. On or after the effective date of this subdivision, and no later

than the end of the first registration period commencing on or after

such date during which he or she is required to comply with the

continuing education requirements of this section, each dentist shall

have completed on a one-time basis, as part of the mandatory hours of

acceptable formal continuing education required by this section, no

fewer than three hours in a course approved by the department in dental

jurisprudence and ethics, which shall include the laws, rules,

regulations and ethical principles relating to the practice of dentistry

in New York state, provided that postgraduate dental students enrolled

in New York state dental residency programs may satisfy the requirements

of this subdivision by taking such an approved course during the period

of their dental residency prior to their initial licensure.