N.Y. Education Law § 7807: Mandatory continuing education

§ 7807. Mandatory continuing education. 1. (a) Each massage therapist

licensed pursuant to this article required to register triennially with

the department to practice in the state shall comply with the provisions

of the mandatory continuing education requirements prescribed in

subdivision two of this section except as set forth in paragraphs (b)

and (c) of this subdivision. Massage therapists who do not satisfy the

mandatory continuing education requirements shall not practice until

they have met such requirements, and they have been issued a

registration certificate, except that a massage therapist may practice

without having met such requirements if he or she is issued a

conditional registration certificate pursuant to subdivision three of

this section.

(b) Massage therapists shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing

education requirement for the triennial registration period during which

they are first licensed. In accord 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 massage therapist not engaged in professional practice,

as 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

practice of massage therapy during the triennial registration period

shall notify the department prior to reentering the profession and shall

meet such mandatory education requirements as shall be prescribed by

regulations of the commissioner.

2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for

registration as a massage therapist shall complete a minimum of

thirty-six hours of acceptable formal continuing education, a maximum of

twelve hours of which may be self-instructional course work acceptable

to the department. Any massage therapist whose first registration date

following the effective date of this section occurs less than three

years from such effective date, 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 twelve 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 for in subdivision three of this section, or until he

or she has otherwise met the requirements 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 complete 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

submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing

education and who practices without such registration, may be subject to

disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of

this chapter.

4. As used in subdivision two of this section, "acceptable formal

continuing education" may mean formal programs of learning which

contribute to professional practice in massage therapy which are offered

by sponsors of massage therapy continuing education approved by the

department in consultation with the state board for massage therapy, to

fulfill the mandatory continuing education requirement. Sponsors of

massage therapy continuing education may include, but are not limited

to, state or national professional associations established to further

the massage therapy profession, and may include any affiliates of

international massage therapy conferences at which professional

continuing education is a major component of such conferences, as well

as programs registered as licensure-qualifying for the profession of

massage therapy by the department. Sponsors of massage therapy shall

file an application with the department and pay a fee of nine hundred

dollars. While presenters of didactic instruction may be provided by

persons who are not licensed by the state of New York as massage

therapists, the practical application of such modalities and techniques

must be done by licensed massage therapists, or those otherwise

authorized, when this continuing education occurs in the state of New

York.

5. Massage therapists shall maintain adequate documentation of

completion of acceptable formal continuing education and shall provide

such documentation at the request of the department. Failure to provide

such documentation upon the request of the department shall be an act of

misconduct subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section

sixty-five hundred ten of this chapter.

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 paid in addition to the triennial

registration fee required by section seventy-one hundred twenty-four of

this chapter.