N.Y. Education Law § 8510-a: Mandatory continuing education for respiratory therapy technicians

§ 8510-a. Mandatory continuing education for respiratory therapy

technicians. 1. (a) Each licensed respiratory therapy technician

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 therapy technicians 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 therapy technician 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 therapy technicians 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 therapy technician 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 therapy technician 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 therapy technician shall complete a

minimum of twenty-four hours of acceptable formal continuing education,

as specified in subdivision four of this section, provided that no more

than twelve hours of such continuing education shall consist of

self-study courses. Any respiratory therapy technician 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 two-thirds 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 taken 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 therapy technician without

such registration, may be subject to the 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 technicians shall mean

formal courses of learning which contribute to professional practice as

a respiratory therapy technician 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 therapy technicians 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 therapy

technicians shall be twenty-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

eighty-five hundred ten of this article.