1. (a) The Act mandates licensee participation in a continuing education program for license renewal. All activities taken to complete this requirement must meet the definition of continuing education as outlined in this section. The licensee is solely responsible for keeping accurate documentation of all continuing education activities and for selecting continuing education as per the requirements in this chapter.

   1. (1) Definition of Continuing Education; also known as CE. Continuing Education - Professional development activities that meet the requirements in this chapter and directly concern one or more of the following:

      1. (A) occupational therapy practice as defined in §362.1 of this title (relating to Definitions),
      2. (B) health conditions treated by occupational therapy,
      3. (C) ethical or regulatory matters in occupational therapy, or
      4. (D) occupational therapy documentation or reimbursement for occupational therapy services.

   2. (2) Unacceptable Activities. Unacceptable professional development activities not eligible for continuing education regardless of the provider or pre-approved status include but are not limited to:

      1. (A) Any non-instructional time frames such as breaks, meals, introductions, and pre/post testing.
      2. (B) Business meetings.
      3. (C) Exhibit hall attendance.
      4. (D) Reading journals.
      5. (E) Courses that provide information about the work setting's philosophy, policies, or procedures or designed to educate employees about a specific work setting.
      6. (F) Courses in topics concerning professionalism or customer service.
      7. (G) Courses such as: massage therapy, management and business administration, social work, defensive driving, water safety, team building, leadership, GRE, GMAT, MCAT preparation, reading techniques, general foreign languages, communicable/infectious diseases, patient abuse, disposal of hazardous waste, patient privacy, CPR, First Aid, HIPAA, FERPA, bloodborne pathogens, or similar courses.
2. (b) All licensees must complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education every two years during the period of time the license is current in order to renew the license and must provide this information as requested.
3. (c) Those renewing a license more than 90 days late must submit proof of continuing education for the renewal.
4. (d) Each continuing education activity may be counted only one time in two renewal cycles.
5. (e) Educational activities that meet the criteria for continuing education as per this chapter that are approved or offered by the American Occupational Therapy Association or the Texas Occupational Therapy Association are pre-approved by the Board. Licensees are responsible for choosing CE that meets requirements as per this chapter, regardless of the activity's provider or pre-approved status. The Board will review its approval process and continuation thereof for educational activities by January 2005 and at least once each five-year period thereafter.
6. (f) Program providers are prohibited from self-promotion of programs, products, and/or services during the presentation of the program.

Source Note:The provisions of this §367.1 adopted to be effective October 11, 1994, 19 TexReg 7714; amended to be effective January 1, 1996, 20 TexReg 10907; amended to be effective February 2, 1999, 24 TexReg 606; amended to be effective February 3, 2000, 25 TexReg 818; amended to be effective August 21, 2000, 25 TexReg 8063; amended to be effective July 22, 2001, 26 TexReg 5441; amended to be effective January 1, 2003, 27 TexReg 12015; amended to be effective October 27, 2003, 28 TexReg 9291; amended to be effective August 29, 2006, 31 TexReg 6801; amended to be effective May 31, 2007, 32 TexReg 2880; amended to be effective February 25, 2008, 33TexReg1603;amended to be effective February 14, 2013, 38 TexReg 676; amended to be effective October 1, 2015, 40 TexReg 5802; amended to be effective July 1, 2016, 41 TexReg 4048; amended to be effective June 1, 2017, 42 TexReg 2738.