(1) All licensees shall affirm on the renewal form that they have completed ten contact hours of continuing education as provided in this rule. The continuing education requirement will not apply until the licensee's first full year of licensure.

(2) The licensee shall maintain records and documentation of completion of continuing education activities such as verification of participation forms, conference brochures, certificates, college or university transcripts or grade reports, articles, book reviews, and apprenticeship evaluations.

(3) It is the sole responsibility of each licensee to meet the continuing education requirement, and to provide documentation of compliance if so requested during a random audit. A random audit of ten percent of renewed active licensees will be conducted on an annual basis.

(4) All continuing education must be germane to the profession and must contribute to the professional competence of an occupational therapist as determined by the board in its sole discretion.

(5) The board shall accept any continuing education 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 continuing education requirements of this rule.

(7) Subject to board approval, 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 continuing education; and

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

(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 addressed to health professionals or a community service organization;

(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 a licensed occupational therapist whose license is in good standing.

(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 continuing education 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 continuing education courses.