Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a)
Content. This section establishes the continuing education requirements that a
licensed medical physicist must complete biennially to maintain licensure.
These requirements are intended to maintain and improve the quality of
professional services in medical physics provided to the public, to keep the
licensed medical physicist knowledgeable of current research, techniques, and
practice, and to provide other resources which will improve skill and
competence in the practice of medical physics.
(b) General. Continuing education
requirements for license renewal shall be fulfilled biennially on or before the
expiration of the license.
(c) Hour
requirements for continuing education. A licensee must complete 24 contact
hours of continuing education acceptable to the board.
(1) A contact hour shall be defined as 50
minutes of attendance and participation.
(2) A licensed medical physicist must
complete acceptable continuing education as identified in subsection (d) of
this section.
(3) A licensed
medical physicist shall be presumed to have complied with this section if in
the preceding 24 months the licensee becomes board certified or recertified by
the American Board of Radiology (ABR), American Board of Medical Physics
(ABMP), American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine (ABSNM), or American
Board of Health Physics (ABHP).
(d) Types of acceptable continuing education.
Continuing education shall be acceptable if the experience falls into one or
more of the following categories:
(1)
Attendance at courses, conferences, seminars or scientific sessions sponsored
by the following national or regional organizations: American Association of
Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), American College of Medical Physics (ACMP),
American College of Radiology (ACR), Health Physics Society (HPS), Society of
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), Radiological Society of North
America (RSNA), American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
(ASTRO), or other professional organizations acceptable to the board;
(2) Participation in conferences sponsored by
regulatory organizations or other organizations pre-determined as acceptable by
the board;
(3) Participation in
medical physics related courses, refresher courses, conferences, and seminars
sponsored by state and private universities that have an accredited graduate
medical physics program;
(4)
Participation in a program of study in medical physics that is accredited by
the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Commission on Accreditation
of Medical Physicist Education Programs;
(5) Participation in a course of study from
an accredited college or university in physics, medical physics, biophysics,
radiological physics, medical health physics or nuclear engineering of other
course of study acceptable to the board;
(6) Participation in a short course of study
relating to basic and/or applied sciences in medicine; or
(7) Participation in a course of study that
enhances the practice of medical physics.
(e) Reporting of continuing education. The
licensee shall maintain documentation of continuing education.
(1) The board will select, at the time of
license renewal, a random sample of licensed medical physicists to verify
compliance with the continuing education requirements. The licensed medical
physicists selected in the random sample shall submit to the board
documentation of participation in and completion of acceptable continuing
education and shall include:
(A) a
certificate of completion or a certificate of attendance signed by the
sponsoring organization; or
(B) a
letter on letterhead of the sponsoring organization verifying attendance;
or
(C) an official continuing
education validation form of the sponsoring organization accompanied by a
brochure, agenda, program, or other applicable information indicating content
of the program; or
(D) evidence of
registration and attendance at a scientific meeting; and
(E) any additional information or
documentation deemed necessary by the board to verify the licensed medical
physicist's compliance with the continuing education requirements.
(2) The board shall review the
documentation submitted to verify compliance with the continuing education
requirements, and notify the licensed medical physicist of the
results.
(3) If the board
determines that the licensed medical physicist failed to successfully complete
the continuing education requirements or failed to submit the required
documentation, disciplinary action may be taken against the licensee in
accordance with § 160.20 of this title (relating to Violations,
Complaints, and Subsequent Actions).
(4) In the alternative, a licensed medical
physicist may request an exemption as set out in subsection (g) of this
section.
(f) A licensed
medical physicist who has failed to complete the requirements for continuing
education as specified in this section shall be referred for investigation and
possible disciplinary action.
(g)
Exemptions. The board will consider granting an exemption from the continuing
education requirement on a case-by-case basis if:
(1) A licensee is called to or is on active
duty with the armed forces of the United States. The licensee must file a copy
of orders to active military duty with the board; or
(2) A licensee submits proof of attendance as
a student in an approved academic program.
