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Frequently Asked Questions on the Continuing Competency Requirements for Licensure in California
To review the full text of the continuing competency regulations, click here.
Unless otherwise stated, all references are to section of part 13.2 of Title 16 of the California Regulations.
1. When am I required to have continuing competency to renew my license?
3. How many continuing hours are required?
4. What are the authorized pathways to obtain continuing competency hours?
6. What is the criteria to become an Approved Agency for continuing competency providers?
7. How do I become an Approved Provider to offer continuing competency courses?
8. How do I find out if the course I am taking is approved?
14. May a college course be counted as a traditional pathway course, e.g. Medical Spanish?
17. How will I know if the course I take won't be rejected by the PTBC?
1. When am I required to have continuing competency to renew my license?
For license renewals that expire on or before 9/30/2010, you are not required to meet the continuing competency requirements for this renewal cycle. Licensees with an expiration date on or after 10/31/2010 will be required to meet the continuing competency requirements for the next renewal cycle and forward pursuant to section 1399.91.
2. My license expires on or after October 31, 2010. When can I begin satisfying the continuing competency requirements?
The PTBC will only accept continuing competency courses taken after the effective date of the regulation as the continuing competency Provider must be approved by an Agency that is recognized as an approval agency by the Board, which cannot happen until the regulation is in effect. If a licensee takes continuing competency courses prior to the effective date of the regulation, the course hours will not be applied towards meeting the required hours of continuing competency for that renewal cycle.
3. How many continuing competency hours are required?
As set forth in section 1399.91:
- Licenses that expire between 10/31/2010 and 10/31/2011, if the renewal is submitted prior to the expiration of the original license, 15 hours of the continuing competency shall be completed.
- Licenses that expire after 10/31/2010 but are not renewed before the expiration date, the full 30 hours shall be completed.
- Licenses that expire on or after 11/01/2011, the full 30 hours shall be completed.
- First-time license renewals, if the renewal is submitted prior to the expiration of the original license, the continuing competency hour requirements shall be one-half of the normal cycle. For licenses that expire after 10/31/2010 but are not renewed before the expiration date, the full 30 hours shall be completed.
| License Expiration Date | Renewal Payment Submitted | Hours Required |
|---|---|---|
| Between 10/31/10 & 10/31/11 | Prior to Expiration Date | 15 Hours |
| Between 10/31/10 & 10/31/11 | After Expiration Date | 30 Hours |
| After 11/1/11 | Prior OR After Expiraton Date | 30 Hours |
| First Time License Renewals | Prior to Expiration Date | 15 Hours |
| First Time License Renewals | After Expiration Date | 30 Hours |
The requirements of 1399.93 shall apply to any renewal under section 1399.91.
One "CEU" (as that term is used by the APTA and CPTA) equals 10 hours of continuing competency for the PTBC's purposes.
4. What are the authorized pathways (section 1399.94) to obtain continuing competency hours?
- Traditional pathways, offered by an approved provider. This includes:
a. Continuing education courses provided by an approved provider, including home and self study courses
b. College coursework as offered by an accredited institution - Alternate pathways: Some of the continuing competency requirements may be fulfilled through alternate means. Below is a table of activities, the conversion to continuing competency hours, and the maximum amount of hours that may be accumulated for the alternate means of obtaining hours.
ALTERNATE PATHWAYS
| Description | Cap | Conversion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A) | Publishing a peer-reviewed journal article, case study or book chapter. | 16 hours | 5 hours per article, study or chapter |
| B) | Developing or presenting an approved college or continuing education course for the first time. | 16 hours | 4 hours for each course |
| C) | Participating as a subject matter expert in the examination process for the Board, FSBPT or ABPTS. | 16 hours | 6 hours per experience |
| D) | Serving on a Board-appointed task force. | 16 hours | 6 hours per experience |
| E) | Performing in a role as a clinical instructor where the student's clinical experience is full time and lasts at least 4 weeks. Effective January 1, 2013, the clinical instructor must be credentialed by APTA or hold a substantially similar credential. | 12 hours | 1 hour per week |
| F) | Attending a conference relating to the practice of physical therapy where proof of attendance is provided by the conference sponsor. | 8 hours | 2 hours per conference |
| G) | Attending a conference offered by FSBPT, APTA, or a component thereof. | 8 hours | 4 hours per conference |
| H) | Attending a Board Meeting. | 8 hours | 2 hours per meeting |
| I) | Completing an FSBPT Practice Review Tool. | 6 hours | 6 hours per experience |
| J) | Successfully passing one of the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties' certified specialist examinations, including re-certification examinations. | 6 hours | 6 hours per examination |
| K) | Completing training as an expert consultant for the Board. | 6 hours | 6 hours per training |
FSBPT: Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy; ABPTS: American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists
**: Starting 01/01/2013 the clinical instructor must be credentialed by the APTA or a similar certifying body
5. How do I notify the PTBC that I have met the continuing competency requirements and how long do I retain my continuing competency documents?
Pursuant to section 1399.97, licensees will NOT mail in his or her continuing competency certificates or documentation with their license renewals. The PTBC will conduct random audits and may request copies of your records as part of that process. The licensee is required to keep records with regard to continuing competency for which credit is claimed for FIVE years after the completion of the course/activity. Documentation requirements have not yet been established; however, you should plan to include at least the title of the course/activity, the date it was taken or completed and the record of participation. Copies of these records should be forwarded to the board ONLY upon request.
6. What is the criteria to become an Approved Agency for continuing competency providers?
Pursuant to the regulation section 1399.95, the PTBC will only approve agencies that will approve providers offering continuing competency courses.
The following is the criteria an agency must adhere to in order to qualify as an Approved Agency recognized by the Board to approve providers offering continuing competency courses:
- An approval agency must have the capacity to evaluate each course offered by a provider in accordance with section 1399.96 and shall conduct audits of at least 10% of its approved providers' courses to ensure compliance with this article.
- An approval agency must have a procedure in place to respond to complaints.
- Approval agencies shall provide services to all persons or entities without unlawful discrimination.
- An approval agency that also offers continuing education courses directly to a licensee shall have a means to avoid a conflict of interest between its functions as a provider and its functions as an approval agency.
- Upon written confirmation from the board that the approval agency has been recognized, the approval agency may advertise that it has been recognized by the board.
The board may require the approval agency to submit records demonstrating its compliance with this article.
7. How do I become an Approved Provider to offer continuing competency courses?
All providers must be approved by a Board recognized approval agency pursuant to the regulation 1399.95.
The standards for qualifying as an approved provider are outlined in the proposed regulation 1399.96.
Do not contact the PTBC to apply for an approval as a provider. The PTBC will post the approval agencies on the PTBC's web site as agencies are approved. You will need to contact the agencies directly to apply to become an approved provider.
8. How do I find out if the course I am taking is approved?
The course must be offered by an approved provider (having met requirements in section 1399.96). This approved provider must be approved by a Board recognized approval agency (pursuant to section 1399.95). This course would then be appropriate as continuing competency activity.
9. Can I contact the Board to verify whether the course I am interested in taking is an approved continuing competency course for license renewal?
The Board cannot verify whether the course meets the content standards set forth in section 1399.92- Approval agencies recognized by the Board make this determination.
10. If I fail to pay my license renewal on or before the expiration date and my license expires between October 31. 2010 and October 31, 2011, how many hours of continuing competency must I complete?
If you fail to submit your renewal payment on or before the expiration date of your license, you are required to complete 30 hours of continuing competency as a condition to renew your license pursuant to section 1399.91(a)(1). (You may refer back to question 4 for more information)
11. If I take a college course from an accredited institution, for a quarter or a semester, will I get one (1) hour per class unit or one (1) hour per 50 minutes of class instruction or lab time?
If the course is related to either the professional practice of physical therapy or patient/client management set forth in section 1399.92, you will receive one hour of credit for every 50 minutes to 1 hour of instruction or lab time pursuant to section 1399.90(g). Example: A course meets 2 hours a week for 10 weeks = 20 hours of continuing competency credit.
12. Are the required two (2) hours in ethics, laws and regulations and the four (4) hours in life support for health care professionals in addition to the required 30 hours of continuing competency?
No, pursuant to section 1399.93 these requirements may be included as part of the required 30 hours.
13. If the life support for health care professionals training is less than four (4) hours, will I still receive four (4) hours of credit or will I have to take another course that would fulfill this requirement?
You will have to take enough courses to meet the minimum required four (4) hours. The course(s) must be life support for health care professionals and a total of at least 4 hours must be completed pursuant to section 1399.93.
14. May a college course be counted as a traditional pathway course, e.g. Medical Spanish?
This depends on whether the course meets the content standards as stated in section 1399.92. Specific to the example given: Medical Spanish would relate to professional development and therefore would be counted.
15. Will attending a Board meeting or serving on a Board task force count towards the ethics, laws and regulations competency hours as required in section 1399.93(a)?
No, however credit may be given as an alternate pathway pursuant to section 1399.94(b), alternate pathway D or H.
16. If I take ethics, laws and regulations courses in excess of the two (2) hours required in section 1399.93(a), may the excess hours be applied toward completing hours via the traditional pathway in section 1399.94(a)?
Yes.
17. How will I know if the course I take won't be rejected by the PTBC?
If the course is offered by an approved provider that has met the requirements in section 1399.96 and has been recognized by an approval agency pursuant to 1399.95 it is safe to assume that the course will satisfy the continuing competency requirement (for a list of Approved Agencies visit the PTBC web site).
18. Will the continuing competency courses that are not approved by an approval agency recognized by the Board but approved by another licensing Board or professional association satisfy my continuing competency requirement?
All courses must be taken through an approved provider who meets the standards set forth in section 1399.96 and has been approved by a Board recognized agency pursuant to section 1399.95.
19. Will only specialty certification issued by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties' (ABPTS) satisfy section J of the alternate pathway table in section 1399.94(b), alternate pathway (J)?
Currently the regulation only authorizes credit for specialty certifications issued from ABPTS.
20. If I attend a conference where an approved provider is also offering continuing competency courses, do I receive credit for attending the conference AND for the course taken at the conference?
Yes, you would receive credit for pathway F or G of the alternate pathway table in 1399.94(b) and hours through the traditional pathway.
21. Is there a fee for processing an application to become an approval agency to approve providers offering continuing competency courses?
No, there is no fee.
