N.Y. Education Law § 8504-a: Mandatory continuing education for respiratory therapists

§ 8504-a. Mandatory continuing education for respiratory therapists.

1. (a) Each licensed respiratory therapist required under this article

to register triennially with the department to practice in the state

shall comply with 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. Respiratory

therapists who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing education

requirement shall not practice until they have met such requirements,

and have been issued a registration certificate, except that a

respiratory 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) Respiratory 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, adjustment 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 respiratory therapist not engaged in 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 their

respective practice as a respiratory therapist 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 respiratory therapist shall complete a minimum of

thirty hours of acceptable formal continuing education, as specified in

subdivision four of this section, provided that no more than fifteen

hours of such continuing education shall consist of self-study courses.

Any respiratory therapist 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 one, shall

complete continuing education hours on a prorated basis at the rate of

five-sixths of one hour per month for the period beginning January

first, two thousand 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. With the exception of continuing education hours

completed during the registration period immediately preceding the

effective date of this section, continuing education hours completed

during one triennium may not be 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 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 as a respiratory therapist without such

registration, may be subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to

section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.

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

continuing education" for respiratory therapy shall mean formal courses

of learning which contribute to professional practice in respiratory

therapy and which meet the standards prescribed by regulations of the

commissioner. The department may, in its discretion and as needed to

contribute to the health and welfare of the public, require the

completion of continuing education courses in specific subjects.

5. Respiratory therapists shall maintain adequate documentation of

completion of acceptable formal continuing education and shall provide

such documentation at the request of the department.

6. The mandatory continuing education fee for respiratory therapists

shall be thirty 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 eighty-five hundred four

of this article.