24.165.2101    CONTINUING EDUCATION

(1) Licensees must complete ten hours of continuing education (CE) annually and shall affirm an understanding of the recurring duty to comply with CE requirements as part of license renewal. The CE requirement does not apply until a licensee's first full year of licensure.

(2) The board may randomly audit up to 50 percent of renewed licensees.

(3) The licensee shall maintain records and documentation of completed CE and make the records available upon board request.

(4) All CE must be germane to the profession and contribute to the professional competence of an occupational therapist.

(5) The board shall accept any CE offered or approved by the Montana Occupational Therapy Association, the American Occupational Therapy Association, the American Society of Hand Therapists, the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT), or the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.

(6) The board recognizes the maintenance of current NBCOT certification as fulfilling the CE requirements of this rule.

(7) Continuing education may be earned:

(a) through college course work, according to the following limitations:

(i) the licensee must pass the course;

(ii) one semester credit shall equal 15 contact hours of CE; and

(iii) one quarter credit shall equal ten contact hours of CE.

(b) by teaching courses or making professional presentations, according to the following limitations:

(i) two contact hours shall be awarded for every hour of presentation;

(ii) documentation must be submitted in the form of an agenda or outline showing the licensee as instructor or presenter of the course;

(iii) the course must be germane to the profession;

(iv) credit for instruction of any course or topic of presentation may be submitted for continuing education only once; and

(v) individuals employed by universities and colleges may not claim credit units in this category for conducting courses that are a part of the regular course offering of those institutions, even if those courses are offered in the evening or summer.

(c) for apprenticeships involving supervised clinical experience aimed at return to practice or developing specialized skills in occupational therapy, according to the following limitations:

(i) ten contact hours shall be credited for each 40 hour week;

(ii) there is no limit to the amount of contact hours that can be earned under this category;

(iii) documentation must be submitted in the form of a signed letter from the clinical supervisor describing the length and type of educational experiences, and an evaluation of the practitioner's performance; and

(iv) apprenticeships must be served under the supervision of an occupational therapist.

(d) by reading books germane to the profession, according to the following limitations:

(i) one contact hour shall be credited for each book or article up to a maximum of four contact hours per year; and

(ii) documentation must be maintained in the form of a book review written by the licensee noting the author, title, publisher, and publishing date of the book or article; and

(e) by attending and participating in a live presentation (workshop, seminar, conference, in-service education program) or other CE activity requiring a formal assessment of learning (electronic or web-based courses, formalized self-study courses), according to the following limitations:

(i) one contact hour shall be awarded for every hour awarded by the provider;

(ii) there is no limit to the number of contact hours that can be earned under this category; and

(iii) documentation must include a certificate of completion or similar document including course name, date, author/instructor, sponsoring organization, location, and number of hours attended.

(8) All Internet courses must meet the same criteria as in-person CE courses.

(9) Licensees found to be in noncompliance with CE requirements may be subject to administrative suspension. 

 

History: 37-1-131, 37-1-319, MCA; IMP, 37-1-131, 37-1-306, 37-1-319, MCA; NEW, 1996 MAR p. 2379, Eff. 9/6/96; AMD, 1998 MAR p. 2266, Eff. 8/28/98; TRANS, from Commerce, 2004 MAR p. 2280; AMD, 2006 MAR p. 1614, Eff. 6/23/06; AMD, 2015 MAR p. 56, Eff. 1/30/15; AMD, 2016 MAR p. 2422, Eff. 12/24/16; AMD, 2019 MAR p. 140, Eff. 1/26/19; AMD, 2019 MAR p. 1743, Eff. 10/5/19.