Rule 671-3-.08 - Renewal of License/Penalties/Continuing Education Requirements. Amended(1) A license issued by the Board shall expire on March 31st of even numbered years. The license may be renewed upon submission of the renewal application and payment of the required fee, provided all requirements have been met. Refer to fee schedule.(2) A license that is not renewed on or before March 31st of the renewal year shall be deemed lapsed. An application for reinstatement shall be required as provided for in Rule 671-3-.09 in order to seek reinstatement of a lapsed license to practice in this State. Practicing with an expired license is prohibited by law and practice during this period may result in disciplinary action for unlicensed practice.(3) Before or on March 31, 2014 and for renewal cycles after that date, the continuing education requirements contained in this rule will be required for the renewal or reinstatement of a license. Except as otherwise provided, each licensee is required is required to complete during each two (2) year renewal period a minimum of twenty-four (24) continuing education hours prior to the expiration date of the license. Failure to complete continuing education prior to expiration date can result in disciplinary action. Acceptable professional continuing education activities shall include activities relevant to occupational therapy practice that can be deemed to update or enhance knowledge and skills required for competent performance beyond entry level occupational therapy. A cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course may not be submitted to satisfy any of the continuing education requirements or employer sponsored compliance coursework. A continuing education hour is defined as actual time spent in instruction or organized learning experiences excluding meals, breaks, welcome/introductions, and business meetings.(a) At least twelve (12) hours of the required twenty-four (24) continuing education hours must be on a topic related to direct patient care. This includes occupational therapy assessment, treatment planning, occupational therapy implementation and diagnostic related information. This must include attendance at live presentations such as workshops, seminars, conferences, or formal academic coursework, or real-time, interactive webinars. To qualify as a real-time, interactive webinar, the licensee must have the ability to ask questions, receive an answer, and interact with other attendees at the time the session is taking place. It may not be a pre-recorded session.(b) Each licensee must complete a minimum of two (2) hours of the required twenty-four (24) continuing education hours in the ethics of occupational therapy practice. These hours may be obtained online.(c) A maximum of ten (10) of the required twenty-four (24) can be in "General" continuing education hours may be obtained by Level II fieldwork supervision, published professional writing and instructional presentations, pre-recorded electronic or web based courses, formal self-study courses, satellite broadcasts, computer learning activities, webinars, or viewing videotapes in a professional setting. These hours may also be related to administration, supervision, documentation, quality assurance and research.(4) An individual who is applying for licensure in Georgia for the first time (never having held a Georgia OT or OTA license) and who is licensed during the second year of the biennium renewal period is not required to meet continuing education requirements for that initial renewal period only.(5) Prior approval of continuing education courses is not required. Each licensee randomly selected for a CE audit must submit to the Board supporting documentation as specified in this rule.(6) Beginning the licensure renewal biennium of April 1, 2018 through March 31, 2020, persons licensed to practice as an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant, or persons who file an application for reinstatement of licensure, must submit documentation of completed continuing education courses and experiences for renewal or issuance of a license. Licensees and applicants for reinstatement may register earned CE credits for courses and experiences with an online recording and reporting system approved by the Board. Licensees and applicants may register with a Board approved online system prior to April 1, 2018 to document CE credits for license renewal and reinstatement. (a) The Georgia State Board of Occupational Therapy has approved the online recording and reporting system of CE Broker, Inc. for the purpose of this rule.(b) Licensees and applicants shall incur no additional costs from CE Broker, Inc. for using this service.(c) Every licensee or applicant subject to the rules of the Georgia State Board of Occupational Therapy shall be deemed to have given such person's consent to the Board and it's representatives to access their continuing competence record retained within the online database for the purposes of auditing and verifying completion of the Board's continuing competency requirements.(d) If a licensee or applicant has not registered earned CE credits with the Board approved online recording and reporting system, the licensee or applicant must include all CE certificates of completion with the license renewal application or application for reinstatement.(7) Procedures for verifying to the Board that the continuing education requirements for licensure renewal have been met: (a) Respond appropriately to questions on renewal of license application;(b) Retain original continuing education documentation in personal files to submit to the Board if requested for a continuing education audit;(c) Documentation as specified in this rule must be maintained by the licensee for no less than four (4) years from the beginning date of the licensure period.(8) Documentation of continuing education which the Board deems as acceptable proof of completion includes the following: (a) For continuing education courses that include attendance and participation at a live presentation such as a workshop, seminar, conference or in-service educational program: 1. A certificate of completion or similar documentation signed by program official, and 2. A program description including sponsor, course title, date(s), program objectives/learning outcomes, content description, and agenda or schedule. A shortened description may be accepted for programs specifically exempted by the Board such as AOTA and GOTA Conferences; (b) For "General" continuing education as referenced in this rule, if obtained at a conference, workshop or live presentation, required documentation is as noted above. All other must include:1. Explanation of the relationship of the activity to occupational therapy and your professional growth. 2. Date(s) and clock hours of the activity; 3. Other information as may be requested. (c) For Level II Fieldwork Supervision involving serving as the primary clinical fieldwork educator for Level II occupational therapy or occupational therapy assistant fieldwork students:1. A description of the fieldwork including name and type of facility, name of the fieldwork educator and times spent in direct supervision of the student; and, 2. Verification provided by the school to the fieldwork educator with the name of the student, school and dates of fieldwork or the signature page of the completed student evaluation form with evaluation scores and comments blocked out; (d) For published professional writing, applied research, and instructional presentations, as referenced in this rule, including first time or significantly revised presentations or an academic class session, workshop, seminar, in-service or professional meeting program session:1. Description of the presentation or research including location, title, date, hours of presentation, general content description, and type of audience; and, 2. Verification of the presentation, research or formal thank you note signed by the sponsor or program official. (e) Documentation of pre-recorded electronic or web based course, formal self-study courses, satellite broadcasts, computer learning activities or viewing of videotapes in a professional setting must include:1. Verified instructional time by the course sponsor, a certificate of completion or similar documentation signed by the program official; and, 2. A program description including sponsor, course title, date(s), program objectives/learning outcomes, and content description. (f) Continuing education should be documented on the appropriate board form, available on the Board website, upon request by the Board.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 671-3-.08
O.C.G.A. §§ 43-1-4, 43-1-19, 43-1-25, 43-28-7, 43-28-8, 43-28-13, 43-28-14.
Original Rule entitled "Renewal" adopted. F. July 15, 1977; eff. August 4, 1977.Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. July 1, 1982; eff. July 21, 1982.Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. July 11, 1984; eff. July 31, 1984.Repealed: New Rule entitled "Renewal of License/Penalties/Continuing Education Requirements" adopted. F. Apr. 14, 1988; eff. May 4, 1988.Amended: F. Nov. 20, 1991; eff. Dec. 10, 1991.Amended: F. Jan. 28, 1994; eff. Feb. 17, 1994.Amended: F. Feb. 1, 1996; eff. Feb. 21, 1996.Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. Dec. 2, 2002; eff. Dec. 22, 2002.Amended: F. May 4, 2005; eff. May 24, 2005.Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. May 30, 2006; eff. June 19, 2006.Amended: F. Mar. 25, 2008; eff. Apr. 14, 2008.Amended: F. Feb. 20, 2009; eff. Mar. 12, 2009.Repealed: New Rule entitled "Renewal of License/Penalties/Continuing Education Requirements. Amended" adopted. F. Feb. 22, 2012; eff. Mar. 13, 2012.Amended: F. Oct. 2, 2013; eff. Oct. 22, 2013.Amended: F. Jan. 20, 2015; eff. Feb. 9, 2015.Note: Correction of non-substantive typographical error in paragraph (3), removed duplicated wording of "is required" in second sentence, as requested by the Agency. Eff. October 11, 2016.Amended: F. June 1, 2017; eff. June 21, 2017.Amended: F. June 10, 2019; eff. June 30, 2019.