Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a) Irrespective of the provider, contact
hours will only be awarded for continued competency activities that are
relevant to the practice of occupational therapy including direct care,
management, education and research. Contact hours will not be awarded for
activities related to marketing, office management, financial gain or
self-promotion.
(b) The following
activities are acceptable so long as the specific activity complies with
subsection (a):
(1) Educational courses.
(i) For continuing education courses, contact
hours equal the number of instructional hours.
(ii) For academic courses, one credit equals
15 contact hours.
(iii) Instead of
the documentation required under §
42.57(a)
(relating to documentation and reporting of continued competency activities),
acceptable documentation of educational courses consists of an official
transcript or certificate of completion indicating the name and date of the
course and a description of the course from the school catalog or
brochure.
(2) Mentorship.
(i) Prior to beginning a mentorship, the
mentor and the prot[eacute]g[eacute] shall enter into a mentorship
agreement.
(ii) At the conclusion
of the mentorship, the mentor shall provide a postmentorship summary
documenting the time spent in and outcomes of the mentoring program. A copy of
the summary shall be provided to the prot[eacute]g[eacute] and maintained by
the mentor and the prot[eacute]g[eacute] for 4 years.
(iii) The mentor and the
prot[eacute]g[eacute] may each earn 1 contact hour for every 5 hours spent in
mentorship activities up to a maximum aggregate of 12 contact hours per
biennium.
(iv) Instead of the
documentation required under §
42.57(a),
acceptable documentation consists of a copy of the mentorship agreement and the
postmentorship summary.
(3) Fieldwork supervision.
(i) A licensee may earn:
(A) One contact hour per student, up to a
maximum aggregate of 12 contact hours per biennium, for serving as a supervisor
for level I fieldwork.
(B) Three
contact hours per student, up to a maximum aggregate of 12 contact hours per
biennium, for serving as a supervisor for level II fieldwork.
(ii) In addition to the
information required under §
42.57(a), the
educational program shall verify the name of the supervisor, the names and
number of students being supervised, the locations where the fieldwork is being
performed and the dates and level of fieldwork.
(4) Professional writing.
(i) A licensee may earn the following contact
hours, up to a maximum aggregate of 15 per biennium, for professional writing:
(A) Fifteen contact hours for writing a
book.
(B) Ten contact hours for
writing a chapter in a book.
(C)
Ten contact hours for writing an article published in a peer-reviewed
journal.
(D) Five contact hours for
writing an article published in a non-peer-reviewed journal, magazine,
newsletter or other publication.
(ii) Credit will be awarded for the biennium
in which the book, chapter or article is published.
(iii) Instead of the documentation required
under §
42.57(a),
acceptable documentation of professional writing consists of a copy of the
editor's or publisher's acceptance letter and a copy of the article, chapter or
the cover page of the book including the title, author, source and date of
publication, and editor.
(5) Editing.
(i) A licensee may earn the following contact
hours, up to a maximum aggregate of 15 per biennium, for editing:
(A) A maximum of 10 contact hours may be
earned for editing a book relevant to occupational therapy.
(B) A maximum of 6 contact hours per biennium
may be earned for serving as a reviewer for a professional journal, provided
that only 1 contact hour may be accrued for each article reviewed.
(ii) Instead of the documentation
required under §
42.57(a),
acceptable documentation of editing activities consists of the following:
(A) For editing a book, a copy of the
editor's or publisher's acceptance letter and the cover page of the book
including the title, author, source and date of publication, and
editor.
(B) For serving as a
reviewer, a copy of a letter from the editor acknowledging the number of
articles reviewed.
(6) Presentation and instruction.
(i) A licensee may earn 2 contact hours, up
to a maximum aggregate of 12 per biennium, for each 60-minute oral or poster
presentation or instruction related to occupational therapy.
(ii) Credit will not be awarded for
presentations or instruction when the activities are within the
presenter's/instructor's employment role.
(iii) Credit will only be awarded one time
per biennium for each presentation/instruction regardless of the number of
times the material is presented.
(iv) In addition to the information required
under §
42.57(a), the
provider shall provide a copy of the official program, schedule or syllabus
including presentation title, date, hours of presentation/instruction and
attestation by the provider.
(7) Unpaid service.
(i) A licensee may earn:
(A) One contact hour, up to a maximum
aggregate of 12 contact hours per biennium, for every 5 hours of unpaid
service.
(B) Credit will not be
awarded for administrative services performed, even if part of the unpaid
service.
(ii) In addition
to the documentation required under §
42.57(a),
acceptable documentation of unpaid service consists of a letter on organization
letterhead from the president or executive director attesting to and outlining
the unpaid service completed.
The provisions of this §42.55 issued under
sections 5(b) and 15(a) of the Occupational Therapy Practice Act (63 P. S.
§§
1505(b) and
1515(a)); amended under
sections 5(b), 8(5)(vi) and 15(a) of the Occupational Therapy Practice Act
(63
P.S. §§
1505(b),
1508(5)(vi) and
1515(a)).
This section cited in 49 Pa. Code §
42.51 (relating to purpose); 49
Pa. Code §
42.52 (relating to definitions);
49 Pa. Code §
42.53 (relating to continued
competency requirements); 49 Pa. Code §
42.54 (relating to education
program providers); and 49 Pa. Code §
42.57 (relating to documentation
and reporting of continued competency
activities).
