Current through all regulations passed and filed through March 18, 2024
(A) An individual may seek certification from
the Ohio department of health as a radiation expert in one or more of the
following categories of radiation-generating equipment:
(1) Therapeutic;
(2) Diagnostic other than mammography;
or
(3) Mammography.
(B) An individual seeking
certification or renewal of certification as a radiation expert shall apply to
the department on a form prescribed and provided by the director. The
application shall contain at least the following:
(1) Name and address of the
applicant;
(2) Category or
categories for which application is being made;
(3) A non-refundable check, electronic
payment, or money order payable to "treasurer, state of Ohio" for the
appropriate certification fee in the amount of one hundred dollars for each
category specified in paragraph (A) of this rule;
(4) Evidence that the applicant has
appropriate training and qualifications to perform oversight and maintenance of
quality assurance programs required by division (A) of section
3748.13 of the Revised Code for
the category for which the applicant is applying as set forth in paragraphs (C)
to (E) of this rule; and
(5) As
applicable, a certified copy of any felony conviction.
(6)
Individuals that
submit with their applications, proof that they are a service member or
veteran, or the spouse or surviving spouse of a service member or veteran will
receive priority expedited certification processing. Their applications will be
reviewed within five business days of receipt and before all other applications
for certification.
(a)
The acceptable proof of service member/veteran status
documents are:
(i)
Department of defense identification card (active,
retired, temporary disability retirement list (TDRL));
(ii)
DD214 military
discharge certificate indicating disposition of discharge;
(iii)
Report of
separation from the national archives national personnel records center in St.
Louis, Missouri; or
(iv)
Veterans identification card from the department of
veterans affairs.
(b)
All acceptable
proof documents, except veterans identification card, must show the veteran
status as honorable, general, general under honorable conditions, or discharged
or released under conditions other than dishonorable.
(C) An applicant for
radiation expert certification for the category of therapeutic
radiation-generating equipment shall have at least one of the following:
(1) Certification by the "American Board of
Radiology" in one of the following:
(a)
Therapeutic radiologic physics;
(b)
Therapeutic
medical physics;
(c) Roentgen-ray and
gamma-ray physics;
(d) X-ray and radium physics;
(e)
Radiologic physics; or
(2) Certification by the "American Board of
Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology Physics";
or
(3) Certification by the
"Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine in Radiation Oncology Physics";
or
(4) A master's or doctor's
degree in physics, medical physics, other physical science, engineering, or
applied mathematics from an accredited college or university; and
(a) Have completed a
clinical residency applicable to this category from an accredited program,
or one year of full time training in medical physics and an additional
year of full time work experience under the supervision of a board certified
medical physicist who meets the qualifications of paragraph (C)(1), (C)(2) or
(C)(3) of this rule at a medical institution. This training and work experience
shall be conducted in clinical radiation facilities that provide high-energy
external beam radiation therapy with photons and electrons with energies
greater than or equal to one MV or one MeV;
(b) The individual shall have performed the
applicable tasks listed in rules 3701:1-67-08 and
3701:1-67-09 of the Administrative Code under the supervision of a
qualified medical physicist during the year of work experience; and
(c) Obtain certification pursuant to
paragraph (C)(1), (C)(2), or (C)(3) of this rule within five years
of qualifying under paragraph (C)(4) of this
rule.
(D) An
applicant for radiation expert certification for the category of diagnostic
radiation generating equipment shall have at least one of the following:
(1) Certification by the "American Board of
Radiology" in radiologic physics,
diagnostic radiologic physics or
diagnostic medical physics;
(2) Certification by the "American Board of
Medical Physics" in medical physics with a specialty in diagnostic imaging
physics;
(3) A master's degree or
doctorate from an accredited college or university in physics, biophysics,
medical physics, radiological physics or health physics,
engineering, or applied mathematics with a minor in physics; and
completed a
clinical residency applicable to this category from an accredited program, or
completed one year of full time training in medical physics and an additional
year of full time work experience under the direct supervision of a
certified individual as provided in paragraph (D)(1) or (D)(2) of this rule or
a radiation expert certified in diagnostic radiation-generating equipment in
developing and performing oversight of quality assurance for diagnostic
radiation-generating equipment.
(E) An applicant for radiation expert
certification for the category of mammography radiation-generating equipment
shall have at least one of the following:
(1)
Certification by the "American Board of Radiology" in
radiologic physics,
diagnostic radiologic physics or
diagnostic medical physics;
(2) Certification by the "American Board of
Medical Physics" with a specialty in diagnostic imaging physics;
(3) A master's degree or higher in a physical
science from an accredited college or university, and at least the following:
(a) Twenty semester hours or thirty quarter
hours of graduate or undergraduate level physics;
(b) Twenty contact hours of documented
specialized training in conducting surveys of mammography facilities;
and
(c) Have the experience of
conducting surveys of at least ten mammography x-ray units under the direct
supervision of a certified individual as provided in paragraph (E)(1) or (E)(2)
of this rule or a radiation expert certified in mammography.
(F) The department may
return an incomplete application for certification or certification renewal.
The applicant shall respond to the director's request for additional
information within twenty days of receiving the request.
(G) A certificate issued under this rule
shall expire two years after the date of its issuance and may be renewed in
accordance with the standard renewal procedures established in Chapter 4745. of
the Revised Code. On or before thirty days prior to the expiration of a
certificate, the department shall mail a notice and application for renewal to
the certificate holder. The certificate holder shall complete the application
and return it to the treasurer of state with the certification renewal fee in
the form of a check, electronic payment, or money order payable to "treasurer,
state of Ohio," in the amount of one hundred dollars for each category
specified in paragraph (A) of this rule.
(H) Within sixty days of receiving a complete
application for certification or certification renewal, the director shall,
pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, either issue a certification or
certification renewal or, deny the application, or the director may at any time
suspend or revoke a certification if the applicant or certificate holder:
(1) Does not meet the applicable requirements
specified in this rule for attaining and maintaining certification as a
radiation expert;
(2) Previously
had a radiation expert certificate revoked or currently has a certificate
suspended pursuant to this paragraph;
(3) Has provided services for a category of
radiation-generating equipment that is not identified on his or her radiation
expert certificate;
(4)
Misrepresents the types of quality assurance programs for which he or she is
certified to provide services or otherwise has provided services for which he
or she was not certified to provide;
(5) Misrepresents information on the
application or has misrepresented an audit report filed with the director
pursuant to rule
3701:1-66-04
of the Administrative Code;
(6) Has
submitted an audit report to the director that the radiation expert did not
personally perform or supervise the individual assisting in the performance of
quality assurance tests;
(7) Does
not respond to the request for additional information within twenty days of
receiving the request as provided in paragraph (F) of this rule;
(8) Does not comply with paragraphs (C) to
(E) of this rule, as applicable, in which case the director shall deny the
application only for that certification for the affected category of
radiation-generating equipment;
(9)
Fails to pay any fee assessed in accordance with this rule;
(10) Fails to comply with Chapter 3748. of
the Revised Code or the rules adopted thereunder; or
(11) Has any felony conviction that indicates
that the individual may pose a risk to public health and safety.
(I) An individual certified as a
radiation expert shall immediately notify the director in writing of the
following:
(1) If the radiation expert is no
longer practicing as a CRE;
(2) A
change in the name, address, or phone number of the radiation expert;
(3) A change to the listing of hospitals in
which the radiation expert is designated as CRE; and
(4) Any other change that would render an
application or certificate no longer accurate.
(J) The individual certified as a radiation
expert shall provide the director upon request with any other information
regarding the requirements set forth in this rule.
(K) Each certified radiation expert shall
obtain continuing education for each certification period in accordance with
the following:
(1) Certified radiation experts
having certification in one category specified in paragraph (A) of this rule
shall obtain fifteen hours of continuing education pertaining to the category
of certification;
(2) Certified
radiation experts having certification in two categories specified in paragraph
(A) of this rule shall obtain twenty hours of continuing education pertaining
to one or both categories of certification; and
(3) Certified radiation experts having
certification in three categories specified in paragraph (A) of this rule shall
obtain twenty-five hours of continuing education pertaining to one or more
categories of certification.
(4)
Individuals in active military service during the
certification renewal period may have the continuing education period extended
in accordance with section
5903.12 of the Revised
Code.
(L)
Continuing education programs are subject to approval by the
director.
(M) A certified radiation
expert who provides instruction in a continuing education program related to
radiation safety is eligible to claim up to five hours of instruction time for
the required continuing education for his or her certification
period.
(N) In accordance with
section 3748.12 of the Revised Code, a
certification renewal fee that remains unpaid on the ninety-first day after the
original invoice date shall be assessed an additional amount equal to ten per
cent of the original fee.
(O)
Application for the same certification category may be denied after the
expiration date of the previous certification for individuals who do not renew
their certification according to this rule, and who do not provide written
notification that they no longer require or want certification in that
category.
(P) If an individual
allows his or her certification to expire and the individual applies for the
same certification within one year following the expiration of that
certification, the individual shall submit evidence of completing the
continuing education requirements provided in this rule.