1. (1) Hours Required

   1. (a) In order to renew a license, the licensee must obtain twenty (20) hours of continuing education each calendar year. Fifteen (15) hours must pertain to the medical and sur- gical care of animals. Five (5) hours may pertain to a special interest in veterinary med- icine in fields other than the medical and surgical care of animals, including but not lim- ited to practice management and state and federal regulatory programs. A maximum of ten (10) hours may be obtained in a multi-media format as defined in part (3)(d)2 of this rule.
   2. (b) For every two-year period, two (2) of the required hours must pertain to regulatory is- sues, controlled substances, or professional ethics.
   3. (c) A licensee is exempt from continuing education requirements during the calendar year of the licensee’s graduation from an approved school or college of veterinary medicine.
   4. (d) The Board approves courses for only the number of hours contained in the course. A li- censee will not receive credit for repeating the same course in a calendar year.

2. (2) Proof of Compliance

   1. (a) The due date for attendance and completion of the required continuing education hours is December 31 of each year. Each veterinarian must attest, on a Board provided form, to attendance and completion of the required continuing education hours and that such hours were obtained during the preceding calendar year.
   2. (b) Timely completion of continuing education credits is solely the responsibility of the li- censee. Except for multi-media courses, the licensee must be physically present at these continuing education meetings.
   3. (c) Each veterinarian must retain independent documentation of attendance and comple- tion of all continuing education courses. This documentation must be retained for a pe- riod of four (4) years from the end of the calendar year in which the course is complet- ed. This documentation must be produced for inspection and verification, if requested by the Board during its verification process.

3. (3) Course Approval

   1. (a) Courses to be offered for credit toward the required continuing education hours must receive approval from the Board, except as provided in subparagraph (e) of this rule.
   2. (b) Timely completion of continuing education credits is solely the responsibility of the li- censee. Except as provided in part (3)(d)2, the licensee must be physically present at these continuing education meetings and will be required to attest, at the time of re- newal, that the requirement has been met.

   3. (c) Approval may be obtained by submitting the following information to the Board’s admin- istrative office at least thirty (30) days before the scheduled date of the course.

      1. 1. A course description or outline;
      2. 2. Names of all speakers and sponsors;
      3. 3. Number of hours of educational credit requested; and
      4. 4. Date of course.

   4. (d) Continuing education courses may be presented in any of the following formats:

      1. 1. Lecture.
      2. 2. Multi-Media – With successful completion of a written post-experience examina- tion to evaluate material retention, multi-media courses may be taken for continu- ing education credit. Multi-Media courses may include courses using:
   5. (i) The Internet
   6. (ii) Closed circuit television
   7. (iii) Satellite broadcasts
   8. (iv) Correspondence courses
   9. (v) Videotapes
   10. (vi) CD-ROM

   11. (vii) DVD

       1. (viii) Teleconferencing
   12. (ix) Videoconferencing
   13. (x) Distance learning

   14. (e) The following courses need not receive approval and constitute Board approved contin- uing education courses:

       1. 1. Courses sponsored or approved by any of the following organizations: American Animal Hospital Association American Association for Wildlife Veterinarians American Association for Women Veterinarians American Association of Avian Pathologists American Association of Bovine Practitioners American Association of Equine Practitioners American Association of Sheep and Goat Practitioners American Association of Swine Practitioners American Association of Veterinary Clinicians American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists American College of Veterinary Toxicologists American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine American College of Poultry Veterinarians American College of Theriogenologists American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine American Dairy Science Association American Society of Animal Scientists American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology American Society of Veterinary Ophthalmology American Veterinary Epidemiology Society
       2. 2. Educational courses sponsored by an accredited school of veterinary medicine or AVMA-recognized veterinary specialty organization. A course taken for or as- signed three (3) semester credit hours or equivalent quarter credit hours counts as fifteen (15) continuing education hours. No credits will be counted for courses failed.
       3. 3. Courses and programs approved by the Registry of Approved Continuing Educa- tion (RACE), which is the American Association of Veterinary State Boards’ na- tional clearinghouse for approval of continuing education.
       4. 4. Educational programs dealing with the practice of veterinary medicine provided by any local, state, regional, national or international veterinary associations, Board- certified specialties recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), schools or colleges of veterinary medicine accredited by the AVMA, and the United States Department of Agriculture; and any program approved by an- other state veterinary board.

4. (4) Waiver or Extension of Continuing Education

   1. (a) The Board may grant a waiver or extension of the need to attend and complete the re- quired hours of continuing education.
   2. (b) Waivers or extensions will be considered only on an individual basis and may be re- quested by submitting a written request to the Board’s administrative office.
   3. (c) A waiver or extension approved by the Board is effective for only the calendar year for which the waiver is sought unless otherwise specified in writing by the Board.

5. (5) Continuing Education for Reactivation of a Retired License

   1. (a) Any veterinarian who applies for reactivation of a retired license must attest to having completed Board approved continuing education credit equal to that required by this rule, with a maximum requirement of eighty (80) hours.
   2. (b) Any continuing education hours obtained as a prerequisite for licensure reactivation shall not count toward the continuing education hours required to be obtained before the end of the calendar year of reactivation.
   3. (c) The Board, upon receipt of a written request and explanation, may waive any or all of the continuing education for reactivation of a retired license.

6. (6) Violations

   1. (a) Any veterinarian who falsely attests to the attendance and completion of the required continuing education hours or fails to obtain the required continuing education hours may be subject to discipline by the Board pursuant to T.C.A. §63-12-124(a)(1), (2), (4), (12), or (14).
   2. (b) Education hours obtained as a result of compliance with the terms of a Board Order in any disciplinary action shall not count toward the continuing education hours a licensee must obtain each calendar year.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-202, 4-5-204, 63-12-105, 63-12-106, 63-12-120, 63-12-121, 63-12-122, and 63- 12-124. Administrative History: Original rule filed April 28, 1995; effective July 12, 1995. Amendment filed September 12, 2001; effective November 26, 2001. Amendment filed June 25, 2003; effective Sep- tember 8, 2003. Amendment filed July 28, 2003; effective October 11, 2003. Amendment filed June 25, 2007; effective September 9, 2007. Amendment filed September 10, 2009; effective December 9, 2009. Amendment filed May 23, 2014; effective August 21, 2014.